From a little boy playing in the streets of Madeira to a worldwide sensation amassing nearly €30 million per year at Real Madrid, Ronaldo’s story seems to be written in the stars.

At the age of 27, the gifted attacker has won almost all there is to win and he will undoubtedly figure in the annals of Portuguese football alongside Eusebio and Luis Figo.

Going into the European Championship, Ronaldo is already the fifth-most capped player in the nation's history, with 87 appearances, and he has featured in 32 more games than his closest suitor in the squad for Poland and Ukraine - Raul Meireles, who has 55 caps to his name.

The Real Madrid ace is also the top scorer in the 23-man party, with 32 international goals, and he is just 15 goals away from equaling Pauleta's national record.

But Ronaldo’s role in the team goes far beyond mere stats; he is the attacking focal point in the team and carries on his shoulders the hopes of more than 10 million people, who saw the Seleccao close to winning their first international title in 2004.

The former Manchester United star, who took part in the highest transfer in football history when he joined Real Madrid in 2009 in a €94m deal, enters the tournament in sensational form, having scored a staggering 60 goals in all competitions in 2011-12 as he helped Real Madrid to win their first La Liga title since 2008.

The issue with Ronaldo has been his inability to convert outstanding club form onto the international stage.

He has only rarely been able to turn in the same kind of performances for the national team than he has for Real Madrid.

“If there is justice in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo will win the Ballon d’Or,” said Madrid coach Jose Mourinho about his protégé. “He is a very special player, the most complete of all.

“He scores with his head, from set-pieces, 30 metres out, in counter-attack… He does everything!”

Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the competition’s must-see players.

With the team having been drawn with Germany, Netherlands and Denmark, Portugal need Ronaldo at his best.