Pele was the first of the greats but now there is one football star that goes beyond all others and the name is Ronaldo.
Ronaldo a great footballer
Ronaldo is a Brazilian, professional footballer, who plays as a striker. He has played in many different clubs in Europe, and he is currently on contract with AC Milan in Italy.
Ronaldo has a nickname which is “the phenomenon”, and he has been named one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004 by Pelé.
Ronaldo has been very successful in his work. He has won the 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cups with the Brazilian national football team. He has also won three FIFA World Player of the year awards in 1996, 1997 and 2002. He is one of two players who have one this award three times. The other player is former Real Madrid team-mate Zinedine Zidane.
The history of Ronaldo
His full name is Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima. Ronald was born in Bento Ribeiro, a poor neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the 18th of September 1976. This is his actual date of birth; however, his father did not register his birth certificate until the 22nd of September 1976, so that fact can give some discrepancy to his actual date of birth.
Ronaldo began like many of his friends to play football in the streets of his neighbourhood, and his abilities were first recognised when he was 14 years old.
Ronaldo married Milene Domingues in 1999, and the marriage ended in divorce after four years. Ronaldo and Milene had a son, Ronald, born in 2000.
In 2005 Ronaldo got engaged to a Brazilian model and MTV VJ, Daniela Cicarelli. Their engagement lasted for three month. She was pregnant but suffered a miscarriage.
After ending the engagement Ronaldo was introduced to the Brazilian supermodel Raica Oliveira, and their relationship ended in December 2006.
Ronaldo became co owner of Al Team Brazil in 2005 alongside Emersin Fittipaldi, Brazilian motorsports legend.
The beginning of Ronaldo’s football career
As mentioned earlier Ronaldo’s football abilities were discovered when he was 14 years old. He was recommended to the Brazil youth team by World Cup winner Jairzinho, who also arranged for his former club, Cruzeiro Esporte Clube to sign him, when he was old enough for a professional contract.
Ronaldo participated in he Brazilian National Championship, and he scored 12 goals in 13 games. He also scored goals (three) in the Minas Gerais State Championship in the victory against arch-rival Atlético Mineiro.
In 1994 after being scouted by Piet de Visser Ronaldo transferred for US$ 6 million to PSV Eindhoven. Here he scored 30 goals in season 1994-1995, and in season 1995-1996 he scored 12 goals, which gives a total on 42 goals in 46 league games. He scored 55 goals in 57 official appearances for PSV Eindhoven.
Other clubs Ronaldo has played in
Hereafter he transferred to FC Barcelona, and he played 49 games and scored 47 goals in season 1996-1997. He appeared in the Copa Del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup. He was alongside the other players on the team leading the Catalan side to UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph.
From 199 7-2002 he played in Italy for Inter Milan. On 21st of November 1999, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt something wrong with his knee and was forced to limp off the pitch. He had ruptured a tendon in his right knee and needed surgery. He was not back in the game until April 2000, and in his first game he was injured again after only seven minutes. He required two operations and 20 months of rehabilitation before Ronaldo came back for the 2002 FIFA World Cup helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002 he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time. He scored 59 goals in 99 games for Inter Milan.
In 2002 Ronaldo transferred to Real Madrid for approximately €39,000,000 after disputes with Inter Milan coach Héctor Cúper. Ronaldo was a great star and the sale of his shirt on the day of his signing alone broke all records the world over. Even though Ronaldo was injured until October 2002 fans continued to support him. Ronaldo scored two goals in his debut for Real Madrid. In the final game of the season against Athletico Bilbao Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals. In 2003 Ronaldo and his team mates won the La Liga Champion ship title which he had previously failed to win with FC Barcelona. Ronaldo played for Real Madrid in 5 seasons and scored 102 goals in 174 games.
Ronaldo’s latest transfer
In January 2007 it was reported that Ronaldo had agreed terms with A.C. Milan for a transfer of about €7.5 million. Ronaldo was forced to pay for the remaining period on his contract which tied him to Real Madrid because of the fact that the latter did not accept to release him, and A.C. Milan were not ready to pay. January 25 2007 Ronaldo flew from Madrid to Milan to watch A.C. Milan in a cup game against AS Roma. On 26th January Ronaldo successfully completed his medical tests at the Milanello training complex under supervision of club doctors, and the transfer completed January 30th. He got the jersey number 99. He had his debut for A.C. Milan on 11th February 2007 as a substitute. The next game in February; Ronaldo scored twice and assisted on a third goal in his first start for Milan. In his first season at Milan he scored 7 goals in 14 appearances.
On 13th February Ronaldo suffered a knee injury again and he was taken to a hospital. Milan confirmed after the game that he had ruptured the kneecap ligament in his left knee. After the operation the doctor said that it went as well as can be expected.
Ronaldo has played for both clubs in local derbies
Ronaldo has joined the list of few players who have played for both Inter Milan and A.C. Milan in the local derby. Ronaldo is the only player who has scored for both clubs in the derby game; for Inter Milan in the 98/99 season and for A.C. Milan in the 06/07 season.
Ronaldo is also one of the few players who have played for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, which also have a local derby just as Inter Milan and A.C. Milan. He has never transferred directly between the teams in the derby.
Ronaldo has never won the UEFA Championships League in his club career in spite of his tremendous success. He helped Real Madrid to the semi-finals in 2003 where they lost to Juventus F.C., so this is the closest he has been to the UEFA Championship final. A.C. Milan won the trophy in the 2006/07 season but Ronaldo was cup-tied with Real Madrid, so he could not play the match for Milan.
Ronaldo’s international career
Ronaldo made his debut for Brazil as 17 years old in 1994, in a friendly match against Argentina. In 1994 he went to the FIFA World Cup in the USA, but he did not play. In 1994 he came to be known as Ronaldinho because his older team-mate was too called Ronaldo.
In the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 Ronaldo played with the name Ronaldinho on his shirt because of the fact that centre back Ronaldo Guiaro was one of his team mates and he was older and played with the name Ronaldo.
In 1996 and 1997 Ronaldo was voted the FIFA World Player of the year. In 1998 he scored four goals and made three assists during the FIFA World Cup. He suffered a convulsive fit the night before the final, and he was removed from the starting line-up an hour before kick off, but he requested to play and he was reinstated. Ronaldo did not play well and he was injured in the game. Brazil lost to France.
The Golden Shoe was won by Ronaldo with eight goals in 2002 as the top scorer in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He scored against every team Brazil came up against except England, and he scored twice against Germany in the final. He equalled Pelé’s Brazilian record of 12 goals in the World Cup.
In the FIFA World Cup in 2006 Ronaldo was accused of being overweight and slow. But he scored two goals against Japan, and he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups. Ronaldo broke all-time World Cup Finals scoring record of 14 with his 15th goal against Ghana in 2006. He became only the second player ever to score at least three goals in each three world Cups.
Ronaldo has not been selected to the National Team since former captain Dunga has been manager for the team. Ronaldo is currently the third highest all-time scorer of Brazil National Team with 62 goals.