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RAPAPORT... TAG Heuer signed football (soccer) superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to a long-term partnership as a brand ambassador. Two-time Ballon d'Or winner, Real Madrid forward and captain of the Portugal team for the coming World Cup in Brazil, Ronaldo joins the current roster of TAG Heuer ambassadors, including Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, tennis champ Maria Sharapova, Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier and the crew of the 2013 America's Cup winner Oracle Team USA.
"TAG Heuer is by far the best at what it does and has been for more than 150 years," said Ronaldo. "No other luxury brand has such strong ties to the highest levels of sports. It is incredibly glamorous, yet also so unconventional, and we share exactly the same determination: to totally change the game, push the limits and make our own rules. It is a great honor to be a part of such a powerful and pioneering legacy." TAG Heuer's CEO, Stephane Linder, said, "Every TAG Heuer creation celebrates intense life in the contemporary arena, and no individual represents this more powerfully than Cristiano. Like TAG Heuer, Cristiano demands perfection and pushes himself harder than anyone in his domain. This is the first time we enter the world of football, and it's a perfect fit to do that with Cristiano, opening a new trend and a new way to engage with our fans. Sports is part of our tradition because we share the same values: self motivation and discipline, pushing one's limit, never giving up. We've been in the sports world since signing on as official chronograph of the 1920 Olympic Games. We started timing ski events in 1928, Formula One and regatta racing in the 1970s. Adding football alongside our longstanding link to motorsports, especially with its number one icon and most powerful player, is incredibly exciting." Ronaldo (dos Santos) was born on the island of Madeira in 1985 and first played professionally in his native Portugal before joining Manchester United in 2003, where he scored more than 100 goals in six years. He became the most expensive footballer in history when he moved to the prestigious club of Real Madrid in 2009, and his current contract makes him the highest-paid player in the world. Ronaldo is Portugal's top goal scorer of all time and the first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years. He scored 69 goals in 59 appearances in 2013 and was awarded his second Ballon d'or in January 2014. He is also several times a winner of national championships and cups in Portugal, England and Spain and a winner of the Champions League in 2008.
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