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 Alcochete, near Lisbon, to join Sporting's other youth players at the club's football academy. By age 14, Ronaldo believed he had the ability to play semi-professionally, and agreed with his mother to cease his education in order to focus entirely on football. While popular with other students at school, he had been expelled after throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had "disrespected" him. However, one year later, he was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that could have forced him to give up playing football. Ronaldo underwent heart surgery where a laser was used to cauterise