Awesome Car Collections: Cristiano Ronaldo

From humble beginnings, the San Antonio boy with heart problems, son of a cook and municipal gardener, has risen to become the highest paid footballer of all time, collecting every trophy there is to collect and breaking records left right and centre.

Cristiano’s father was a lifetime fan of an actor called Ronald Reagan, which is how he got his name. When he was expelled from school aged 14 for throwing a chair at his teacher, it was agreed that he could focus on the footie, which he was already playing for amateur team Andorhina. From there to local club Nacional and, after a winning the title, moved up to Sporting CP.

Age just 15, he was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that could have stopped him playing, but he went for laser heart surgery and was back on the training ground within a couple of days.

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It was Arsene Wenger in 2002 who first had him over in the UK on trial, but Ferguson who was persuaded to sign him by his own players, having been spanked 3-1 by Sporting CP in Lisbon. Signed he was, for £12m, the first ever Portuguese player to join Utd.

Desiring the no. 28 shirt, Ferguson opted to give him the coveted no.7. For Ronaldo, this was a big honour to fulfil, previous wearers of the shirt including Best, Robson, Beckham and Cantona, but as Fergie no doubt wished, it proved an inspiration.

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The rest, as they say, is history. In 2007, he became the first player in England to win all four PFA and FWA awards. He’s also won the FIFA Ballon d’Or twice, the first Portuguese player ever to do so. He’s won the European Golden Shoe three times, and taken down the FIFA World Player of the Year, FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year and FIFA Puskas Goal of the Year.

He holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Champions League Season, with 17 goals. He’s scored 40 goals in two consecutive seasons- the only player to do so and is the fastest Real Madrid player to reach 100 goals. He’s the only man to have scored against every team in La Liga. In January this year, he scored his 400^th career goal. Internationally, he scored 18 goals as a youth player and is the current captain of the Portuguese National team.

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Including lucrative sponsorship deals with Armani, Nike, Coca Cola, Castrol, Konami, Banco Espirito Santo, Motorola, KFC, TAG Heuer and Fly Emirates, Forbes have him down for an estimated 2014 income of $73million.

Along with his high-rolling rapper counterparts, he also has started a fashion line, called ‘CR7’, with shops in Madeira and Lisbon, dealing mostly in jeans shirts and shoes for men, plus a few dresses.

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So, with that kind of wedge and a supermodel girlfriend, what’s a boy to do?

Well, he’s not one known for keeping a massive stable of vehicles, preferring to try something for a while, then sell and move on. However, he has managed to roll through quite a few of the usual suspects, albeit with very few surprises. Well, he is a footballer after all. Alphabetically, the list reads something like: -

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Aston Martin DB9

Audi Q7

Audi R8

Audi RS6

Bentley Continental GTC

Bentley GT Speed

BMW M6

Bugatti Veyron

Ferrari 599 GTB (crashed)

Ferrari 599 GTO

Ferrari F430

Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4

Maserati GranCabrio

Mercedes Benz C-Class Sports Coupe

Mercedes Benz C220 CDI

Porsche Cayenne

Porsche Cayenne Turbo

Porsche 911 Carrera Cabrio

Rolls Royce Phantom

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