Cristiano Ronaldo Nicknamed 'Cry Baby' in Amateur Football, Says Ex-Team-mate

A childhood team-mate of Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed the star was known as "Cry Baby" because of his tendency to throw tantrums on the pitch. 

Ricardo Santos, who played with the Real Madrid forward for amateur side CF Andorinha in his native Madeira, told Reuters' Aditi Prakash: "Cry-baby, yes, because Ronaldo already loved to win like he loves today and when he lost and when other kids didn't pass the ball to him he used to cry."

Ronaldo has long been known for his dramatic reactions on the pitch when things don't go his way.

In September last year, he was upset with manager Zinedine Zidane for substituting him in the 2-2 draw with Las Palmas and reacted angrily during a rondo training exercise, putting in a lunging challenge on Karim Benzema and kicking the ball away in frustration.

The following month, the 32-year-old again lost his temper after being nutmegged by Danilo in training and kicked a ball at the watching media.

Earlier in March, Zidane ran the risk of upsetting the superstar again by bringing him off before the final whistle:

Team-mate Gareth Bale has also been on the receiving end of Ronaldo's ire on multiple occasions for a variety of reasons, including the Welshman failing to score from a free-kick, not passing to him and for scoring a rebound from Ronaldo's shot.

As Santos noted, Ronaldo had his intrinsic desire to win even then, a drive that has inspired him to achieve great things in his career:

Among other trophies, the iconic forward has won three Premier League titles, three UEFA Champions League crowns and one La Liga over the course of his career thus far, as well as the UEFA European Championship with Portugal and four Ballons d'Or.