Cristiano Ronaldo has been a constant, dominant presence in football for more than two decades, winning titles, breaking records and scoring goals at a ludicrous rate for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Al Nassr and Portugal.
Even as he celebrates his 40th birthday on Feb. 5, the goals continue to flow for club and country as his social media presence grows by the day. With nearly 1 billion combined across platforms, Ronaldo knows no numerical barriers.
To merely list Ronaldo's achievements -- five Champions League triumphs, Golden Boots, international trophies, nearly 1,000 goals -- would be reductive. He is a player who changed his game to reach the top, and when he got there, he changed what's possible in the sport, how people follow it and what stardom can be.
Here is the story of Ronaldo told through four broad phases of his career: the young winger who took the Premier League by storm, the star striker who conquered Europe, the "Galactico" era at Real Madrid during his peak years, and the record hunter focusing his final years on adding to an extraordinary legacy.
