Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Roberto Alomar Birthday Tribute: Latino Athletes Highlight Best in Soccer & Major League Baseball
Happy birthday to two of the best soccer players in the world, and one of the best Latin American-born baseball players of all time.
Feb. 5 marks the birthdays of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Roberto Alomar.
Ronaldo is without a doubt one of the greatest soccer players today. The Real Madrid superstar has collected 205 La Liga goals in his Spanish football career, and nearly 300 total going back to his English Premier League playing days with Manchester United. This season, the 30-year-old Ronaldo has a league-leading 28 goals despite missing two games because of a suspension.
Ronaldo has also represented his country well at the biggest soccer stage in the world, the FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo has successfully scored a goal in the last three consecutive World Cups. There's a chance we may see Ronaldo break Barcelona's Lionel Messi's single-season goal scoring record this season. In 2009, Ronaldo won the FIFA Puskas Award for best goal of the year.
Another outstanding soccer player celebrating a birthday on Feb. 5 is Barcelona forward Neymar. The 23-year-old Brazilian striker is one of the young rising stars in the soccer world. Neymar made quite a name for himself at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in his home country, scoring four goals before getting injured. Neymar is also an outstanding teammate and passer of the ball.
This season, Neymar has 15 La Liga goals on just 51 shots, resulting in an incredible shooting percentage. Neymar has often drawn comparisons to Pele, who is often regarded as the greatest soccer player of all time. In 2011 and 2012, Neymar won the prestigious South American Footballer of the Year Award. Just like Ronaldo, Neymar also won the Puskas Award for best goal of the year, in 2011. His incredible between the legs goal by two defenders is still remembered today.
One of the greatest Latino American-born baseball players was also born on Feb. 5.
Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar is one of the best baseball players in recent memory. The young Puerto Rican took after his father, Sandy Alomar (who also played in MLB) and loved to play the game. His brother, Sandy Alomar Jr., also played in the big leagues.
Alomar began his career with the San Diego Padres, but he is best remembered for his playing days in Canada, with the Toronto Blue Jays. Alomar guided the Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series championships (their only two in franchise history) while making the All-Star team every single year from 1990 to 2001.
Alomar was fantastic in the 1992 World Series against the Atlanta Braves. In Game 6, Alomar scored the championship-winning run in the 11th inning to give the Blue Jays the World Series title. The very next World Series, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Alomar was clutch yet again. In the final game, he finished with three hits, scored a run and got an RBI.
Alomar finished his incredible career with a .300 batting average, and he scored 1,508 career runs, the most by any Puerto Rican-born player in MLB history. He was inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Other notable athletes born on Feb. 5 include Hank Aaron, Roger Staubach and Kelvin Benjamin. Aaron is one of the best baseball players of all time with an amazing 755 career home runs, and Staubach guided the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories in the 1970s. Wide receiver Benjamin is one of the best young players in the NFL today.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter
FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS AND UPDATES, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!