Cristiano Ronaldo A prolific goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the records for most official goals scored in Europe's top-five leagues (405), the UEFA Champions League (121), the UEFA European Championship (9), as well as those for most assists in the UEFA Champions League (34) and the UEFA European Championship (6). He has scored over 680 senior career goals for club and country. Born and raised on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart at age 15. He underwent an operation to treat his condition, and began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United
Messi–Ronaldo rivalry Messi–Ronaldo rivalry The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry is a football rivalry between fans of Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and supposedly between the athletes themselves. Having won a combined ten Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or awards (5 each), both are widely regarded not only as the two best players of their generation, but also regarded by many as the greatest of all time. Both players have regularly broken the 50 goal barrier in a single season and have scored over 600 goals each in their careers for club and country. Sports journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits