The Real Ronaldo

[Craig_H]

He was to football at the time, what Tyson was to boxing.

Very good comparison, actually.

[Chrono]

If Fernadinho was too young for Ronaldo, he would certainly be too young to have seen Tyson beat the living bejesus out of everyone in the early 90's. He was an absolute beast

Absolutely LOVED Tyson in his prime! He was like a wild animal that they let of the leash in the ring, destroyed everything in his path including himself

[Daniel 7]

I loved this goal. Immense power, he was like a middleweight boxer whne he was at his physical peak. Awesome.

[ame="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q090EJ6B7Lk&feature=player_embedded"]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q090EJ6B7Lk&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

[kris90210]

sheer class - strong, quick, skilful, two footed, wonderful technique in striking the ball early with minimal backlift which is why he scored so many - he had it all

An early rise to super-stardom, along with bad injuries etc really took their toll but he was a joy to watch, and wasn't a poncing little cunt like the rooney's and cristiano ronaldos etc.

He is up their with the greatest imo - certainly in my life time, you have a few standout players from the rest Zidane, Ronaldo - miles and miles and miles ahead of anyone else in the last 20 years.

Agreed, although I would add Roberto Baggio to that list.

Ronaldo, when he was on his game, was unstoppable. He could beat players through power, pace or trickery. Could shoot with power using either foot. Timed his runs very well. Played for the team. And he had an x factor about him. He was a joy to watch - real shame what happened to him with his mentality and his injuries.

[Daniel 7]

Agreed, although I would add Roberto Baggio to that list.

Ronaldo, when he was on his game, was unstoppable. He could beat players through power, pace or trickery. Could shoot with power using either foot. Timed his runs very well. Played for the team. And he had an x factor about him. He was a joy to watch - real shame what happened to him with his mentality and his injuries.

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=67243

Reminds me of a thread I started!

[smither]

Amazing player, shame about his choice of women...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-562742/Brazilian-World-Cup-star-Ronaldo-takes-prostitutes-hotel-room--discover-MEN.html

[kris90210]

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=67243

Reminds me of a thread I started!

nice - enjoyed reading the thread. Agree with you regarding Baggio by the way. Single handedly dragged that team to the final. Shameful the way he's been treated by Italian managers since then. They've never replaced him in the side - Del Piero came closest but faded a lot with age in my opinion. Totti - never.

Baggio and Ronaldo actually played together at Inter. I thought at the time it would be a dream partnership, but both suffered hugely through injury. Shame, because on paper it really was a match made in heaven.

[Robbie-fowler999]

ıve never seen a striker like him and i will never see another again.. he is the best and no one comes close to him

[paulg]

Baggio was like Zidane and Maradona, time seemed to slow down when he had the ball. Loved Del Piero, also. Wish he'd got the recognition he deserved, always seemed to get grief in the media.

[Fernandinho]

Yeah, I think that was because he was never really prolific on a constant level, he was more of an assists man.

[barnes10]

overrated. he wasnt much good in goal was he. far from the complete player.

[red g]

some trophy cabinet he must have


Individual
Supercopa Libertadores Top Scorer: 1993-94
Campeonato Mineiro Top Scorer: 1993-94
Campeonato Mineiro Team of The Year: 1994
Eredivisie Top Scorer: 1994-95
La Liga Top Scorer: 1996-97,2003–2004
European Golden Boot: 1996-97
Don Balón Award La Liga Foreign Player of the Year: 1996-97
Copa América Final Most Valuable Player: 1997
Copa América Most Valuable Player: 1997
Confederations Cup All-Star Team: 1997
Cup Winners Cup Final Most Valuable Player: 1997
Cup Winners Cup Top Goal Scorer: 1996-1997
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 1997
UEFA Most Valuable Player: 1997-98
Serie A Footballer of the Year: 1997-98
Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1997-98
UEFA Best Forward: 1997-98
Bravo Award : 1995, 1997, 1998
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1998
UEFA Cup Final Most Valuable Player: 1998
Copa América Top Scorer: 1999
Copa América All-Star Team: 1997, 1999
FIFA World Player of the Year: 1996, 1997, 2002
Ballon D'or: 1997, 2002
World Soccer Magazine World Player of The Year: 1996,1997.2002
Onze d'Or: 1997, 2002
FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 2002
FIFA 100
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1998, 2002
FIFA World Cup Final Most Valuable Player: 2002
FIFA World Cup Top Scorer: 2002
Intercontinental Cup Most Valuable Player: 2002
UEFA Team of The Year: 2002
Laureus Comeback of the Year: 2002
Strogaldo De Legendary Award 2002
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality: 2002
La Liga South American Player of the Year: 1996-97, 2002–03
Golden Foot: 2006
Brazilian National Hall of Fame inducated: Class of 2006
Serie A Player of the Decade: 1997-2007
France Football Magazine: Starting eleven of all-time: 2007
FIFA World Cup All-Time Scoring Leader
Campeonato Paulista Best Player: 2009
Goal.com : Player of a decade: Winner 2000-2010[32]

[Craig_H]

More than a player : Il Fenomeno
In the history of the game there have been many great players. A large number of those are recognised are strikers. However, there is one who I fear may not end up in greatest lists, largely due to a torrid time with injuries, which is a huge disappointment for such a fantastic player. I am of course talking about Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima; more commonly known as Ronaldo, and affectionately nicknamed Il Fenomeno by his followers in Italy.

Ronaldo's career began as a 17 year old at Cruzeiro, a team which had been under-performing for some years. However, in Ronaldo's first season at the club he amassed a total of 12 goals in 14 games; a magnificent record for anyone, never mind a 17 year old in his breakthrough season, a season in which Cruzeiro won their first Brazilian national championship.

After this season, Ronaldo was deemed to have earned a $6 million move to PSV Eindhoven, where he once again showed a fantastic return, scoring a staggering 54 goals in 57 games, a truely remarkable feat for a player who left his own country at 18 and playing for his new club until the age of 20.

During this time, Ronaldo also made his Brazil debut against Argentina just after joining PSV, and at the end of that year went to his first world cup, due to his goalscoring antics at club level. Did he have a place in a starting XI which won the World Cup? Not at the time. But time would call for his moment.

After his impressive spell at PSV, Ronaldo was brought in by Sir Bobby Robson to play at Barcelona, where he once again proved to be a ridiculously good goalscorer with an unbelievable 47 goals in 49 games. 34 of those goals were in La Liga, in which he played in 37 games. Ronaldo also scored the winner in the Cup winners Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain.

After his one year at Barcelona Ronaldo once again moved on, this time to Internazionale. In his first year, he scored 25 serie A goals, making him the second highest goalscorer in the league, and thus ensuring his position in the Brazil team for the upcoming, fateful world cup in France.

This was his time. He hadn't played 4 years early, and world football was calling for his magic to impress everyone. In the world cup, Ronaldo played a huge role for Brazil by scoring four goals and being an all round nuisance to defenders in the run up to the final. However, the night before the final Ronaldo suffered from a convulsive fit, or so the story says, leading him to be declared unfit for the final. This did not, however, end Ronaldo's world cup.

72 minutes before the world cup final, Ronaldo was withdrawn from the team to much arguement from Ronaldo himself, leading to his reinstatement to the starting line up. Ronaldo couldn't complete the game though, as after a poor performance, a collision with Fabian Barthez ended his game through injury.

After the world cup, Ronaldo made a return to Inter and carried on with his goalscoring, before having to limp off in a league game against Leece after feeling his knee buckle. Little was this to add to everyone's knowledge about the ramifications this would later have.

This injury picked up against Leece was confirmed as a ruptured tendon in his knee, which ruled him out until the Coppa Italia final of 2000 against Lazio. However, Ronaldo's comeback was less than perfect, with him suffering a similar injury only seven minutes into the game. This time, however, two operations were required, as well as a great amount of rehabilitation, ruling him out until 2002.

Ronaldo recovered, again, and was back to his best at the 2002 world cup with some excellent performance's for Brazil, scoring 8 goals in the 7 games including both goals in the final against Germany.

The world cup performance caused Real Madrid to come knocking at Inter's door for Ronaldo's services, leading to his exit, leaving Internazionale with a record (that for him was quite poor) of 59 goals in 99 games.

Ronaldo's time at Madrid was massively hyped even before his signing, with shirt sale records being broken on the first day, and while Ronaldo couldn't make his debut at first his name was still widely sung around the Santiago Bernabeu, showing how large the hype over him was. During his time in Madrid he won La Liga and several other, albeit smaller competitions such as the European super cup, Spanish super cup and the UEFA super cup. However, when Fabio Capello took over with Ruud Van Nistelrooy competing for his place, Ronaldo was shown the door, and he joined AC Milan. He left having scored 83 times in 127 games.

However, before his move to Milan was sealed, there was a small matter: another world cup. Ronaldo was a name commonly found in the Brazil side. However, he had been widely mocked by worldwide media for his apparent weight issues. "O gordinho", "el gordito", "fat Ronaldo", where some of the names he heard the most at the time. This didn't stop O gordinho from scoring 3 goals and Brazil getting to the Quarter Final stage. His thrid goal at the World cup, which he scored against Ghana, placed him among the history books as the player who has put the ball in the back of the net most times, with 15 goals, one ahead of Gerd Müller.

Whilst in Milan Ronaldo had his worst goals per game ratio of any spell in his career, he still had a record of around 1 every 2 with a tally of 9 goals in 20 games... until he suffered another Ruptured Knee, causing Milan to end his contract at the first possible opportunity.

During his time off injured, he had one of the most humorous occurences of the great player's career, when at the Brazilian mardi gras Ronaldo went out to a club and ended up leaving with 3 prostitutes. However, these prostitutes weren't quite what they appeared, and Ronaldo found out that they were also transvestites, and there are even some sources which claim that when he found this out he sent them to get him cocaine. These stories were never proved.

Once Ronaldo's knee injury "cleared up", he signed for Corinthians, where he still plays his trade. As I write this, his record stands: 12 goals in 20 games. Ronaldo has also announced his retirement at the end of the next Brazilian season, which means, at the end of 2011.

And now, as a favourite memory most have of Ronaldo, here it is. Perhaps his greatest game.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXwv022X3_U"]YouTube- ||☆||Ronaldo El Phenomeno vs Man Utd ||☆||**NEW** ||HD|| 720p[/ame]

[Rudo]

Genius!

[Shaggy]

Some very recent pics...