Cristiano Ronaldo Clocks 35

Juventus striker, Cristiano Ronaldo clocks 35 today.

The Portuguese legend will not just be celebrating his life today, but also close to 20 years of playing professional football.

CR7 who currently plays for Juve, began his professional football career at Sporting Lisbon before signing for Manchester United. He won the Ballon d’Or award at Manchester United and sealed a move to Real Madrid, where he won several awards. After 9 successful years of playing at Real Madrid, he moved to his present club.

See what some fans have been tweeting to celebrate the football icon,

HBD to him.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM, born 5 February 1985, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballons d’Or and four European Golden Shoes, both of which are records for a European player. He has won 29 trophies in his career, including six league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship, and one UEFA Nations League. A prolific goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the records for the most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League (128) and the joint-most goals scored in the UEFA European Championship (9). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in São Pedro, Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and grew up in Santo António, Funchal. He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores Spinola dos Santos da Aveiro (b. 1954), a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro (1953–2005), a municipal gardener and a part-time kit man. His great-grandmother on his father’s side, Isabel da Piedade, was from the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde. He has one older brother, Hugo (b. 1975), and two older sisters, Elma (b. 1973) and Liliana Cátia “Katia” (b. 1977), who is a singer. Ronaldo grew up in a Catholic and impoverished home, sharing a room with all his siblings.

Ronaldo became Manchester United’s first-ever Portuguese player when he signed before the 2003–04 season. His transfer fee of £12.24 million made him, at the time, the most expensive teenager in English football history. Although he requested the number 28, his number at Sporting, he received the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by such United players as George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Wearing the number 7 became an extra source of motivation for Ronaldo. A key element in his development during his time in England proved to be his manager, Alex Ferguson, of whom he later said, “He’s been my father in sport, one of the most important and influential factors in my career.”