Cristiano Ronaldo by "Forbes" in 2016 and 2017, as well as the world's most famous athlete by ESPN in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in São Pedro, Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal, and grew up in Santo António, Funchal. He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro (b. 1954), a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro (1953–2005), a municipal gardener and a part-time kit man. His second given name, "Ronaldo", was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan. His great-grandmother on his father's side, Isabel da Piedade, was from the island
Cristiano Ronaldo Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards for the second consecutive season. As rumours circulated of Ronaldo's interest in moving to Real Madrid, United filed a tampering complaint with governing body FIFA over Madrid's alleged pursuit of their player, but they declined to take action. FIFA president Sepp Blatter asserted that the player should be allowed to leave his club, describing the situation as "modern slavery". Despite Ronaldo publicly agreeing with Blatter, he remained at United for another year. Ahead of the 2008–09 season, on 7 July, he underwent ankle surgery, which kept him out of action for 10