Cristiano Ronaldo, who was born on February 5, 1985, grew up in Funchal, Medeira, Portugal along with his three elder siblings.
His father Jose Dinis Aviero, who was an equipment manager at local club Andorinha, introduced the young Ronaldo to football, but his demise in 2005 due to kidney-related ailment had a massive impact on his future, while his mother Maria Dolores dos Santos Aviero was a cook.
Cristiano grew up in poverty, but at the age of 14, his focus was primarily on football.
And at the age of sixteen, he joined Premier League giants Manchester United for a reported fee of £12m.
Although the Juventus forward has claimed various individual honours that include the FIFA World Player of the year, the Ballon d'or, and the top scorer, his educational achievements was nothing to write about after failing to graduate from secondary school.
According to Ronaldo's godfather Fernao Barros Sousa, football was his first love and would always avoid school work and family meetings to be involved with the game.
"When he was little, he was just like other kids,"
Sousa recalled.
"But he had something that was different from the others and that was that he played a lot of football. Even from a young age. When the other kids were studying, he put his studies on the back seat in order to play football," S ousa added.
Speaking in an interview with CelebsNow back in 2011, Cristiano revealed why he could not complete his secondary.
"I was not thick but I was not interested in school. I was expelled after I threw a chair at the teacher," added Ronaldo, who was quick to discourage others from following his footstep.
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