FENOMENO | The Story of Ronaldo

if you could build a striker from the ground up what attributes would they possess pace power composure and ability to do the unthinkable two of these would be enough to create a world class forward however in the 1990s there was a young striker from brazil who would have all of these qualities and so much more leading him to become the greatest forward of all time [Music] [Music] he's just the best player in the world that's what he is the 90s and early 2000s belonged to one man when it came to football pc powerful finisher with unmatched dribbling ability redefined the role of a striker during that time all the while dazzling on lookers who could only marvel at his genius his name ronaldo in a career that spanned 18 years the tale of ronaldo was one of triumph as well as tragedy a man whose career was cruelly cut short robbing him of the opportunity to achieve even more than the staggering amount he did in the game despite that ronaldo has become one of the most iconic figures in the sport for what he accomplished both on and off the pitch this is the story of the man known simply as phenomenal this is the story of ronaldo born in rio de janeiro in 1976 ronaldo luis nazario de lima grew up in a suburb of the city been to ribeiro alongside his two siblings after his parents separated at age 11 ronaldo would drop out of school to pursue a career in football during this time he would join his local futsal team valkyrie and it is here that his reputation would begin to grow with word of his talent spreading throughout the region he was invited to play for the social ramos futsal team at the age of 12. he led the city youth league in scoring netting 166 goals in his first season ronaldo has said that he credits futsal for developing his skills and that he considers it his first love in 1991 lower league brazilian side sao chris davao offered ronaldo his first opportunity to break into the game as rio's top clubs refused to pay his bus fare to come for a trial initially signed for their youth side it didn't take long for his talent to shine through he scored 44 goals in under two years for sacrifice devout ensuring that his time there would be short-lived at the age of just 16 he was attracting the attention of some of the nation's biggest clubs while many thought he would sign for one of the real base sides ronaldo surprised many by moving to cruzeiro 340 kilometers away from rio in december of 1992 ronaldo aged just 16 found himself at one of brazil's most successful clubs with a reputation that seemed nearly impossible to live up to however the hype seemed thoroughly justified as he scored four goals on his youth team debut and three months after arriving he made his first team debut against caldense ronaldo would come to the nation's attention in november of 1993 after scoring five goals in one game against bahia his first senior goal for the club would come during a tour of portugal against belances his performance against porto on that same tour immediately led the portuguese giants to make a bid for the young prodigy which was rebuked by cruzeiro upon returning from the tour he scored 20 goals with eight coming in the super cop and libertadores including a hat-trick against chile inside kolo kolo in the first leg before scoring a further three against uruguayan team nacional resulting in him being the tournament's top goal scorer ronaldo scored 44 goals in 47 games with cruzeiro leading them to their first cuppa to brazil in 1993 and the menace get a state championship in 1994 the year of 1994 would turn out to be pivotal in the development of ronaldo not only did he help his club win silverware that year his performances were enough to earn him his international debut that same year in a friendly against argentina his first senior international goal came two months later in a three-nil friendly against iceland in the summer of 1994 a 17 year old ronaldo was selected by carlos alberto pereira to represent brazil at the world cup finals in america despite not playing a single minute at the tournament ronaldo was said to be overjoyed by the experience of being with the squad as the selisao would go on to win the competition defeating italy in the final via a penalty shootout following the world cup ronaldo had no shortage of suitors particularly in europe however it was after a conversation with brazilian teammate romario that he decided to join dutch giants psv eindhoven he would make an immediate impact heading 10 minutes into his debut against vatesse in his first season in the netherlands ronaldo scored 30 league goals which included seven braces and a hat trick against utrecht after scoring a hat trick against bayer leverkusen in that season's uefa cup leverkusen and germany forward rudy waller stated in a post-match press conference and he had never seen an 18 year old played in the way that ronaldo did the sheer pace his exceptional dribbling ability and raw power were all a part of his game at even such a young age the following season would be marred by injury however he would still score 19 goals in 21 appearances including a four goal haul against finish side waipa in the uefa cup in 1996 he would capture his first piece of silver or with psv as he would lift the dutch cup following a 5-2 victory over sparta rotterdam in the final in his two seasons at the philips stadion ronaldo had scored a total of 54 goals in 57 games in all competitions all before the age of 20. psv knew it would be highly unlikely that his achievements wouldn't go unrecognised and that would be near impossible for them to keep a hold of their main man it was little surprise that the club the size of barcelona won the race for his signature in the summer of 1996 with the catalans breaking the world transfer record to land the brazilian spending the equivalent of 13.2 million pounds in today's money then barcelona manager bobby robson claimed that he had never seen a player at 20 years old have so much ability ronaldo had become such a household name at this stage of his young career but he signed a 10-year contract and lifetime endorsement deal with nike worth 180 million dollars during the 1996-97 season ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 games in all competitions helping the catalan giants through domestic success by winning both the copa del rey and the supercopa de espana not only did barcelona win trophies domestically but on the continent as well as ronaldo led them to a uefa cup winner's cup triumph scoring the winning goal in a one-nil victory over psg at the feyenoord stadium his fifth goal of the competition arguably his most well-known goal in a barcelona shirt came against sd compostela on the 11th of october 1996. having received the ball inside his own half he evaded a tackle from an opposition player with a drag back before running away from another and round towards the goal going past two more defenders in the box with close ball control before finishing into the bottom corner of the net the camera then cut to manager robson who got up off the bench and put his hands on his head and shared his belief in what he had just seen as well as the three trophies he'd helped lead barcelona to throughout the season there were individual honours as well winning la liga's top scorer with 34 goals in 37 games as well as the european golden shoe however the jewel in the crown of his achievement that season would have been the 1996 fifa world player of the year trophy at just 20 years old he was and still remains the youngest recipient of the ballon d'or despite his outstanding form on the pitch as well as being settled in barcelona his time there would only last a single season due to a breakdown in contract negotiations it would be inter milan that would pay his 27 million release fee making ronaldo only the second player in history behind diego maradona to have broken the world transfer record twice he signed a five-year deal with the naratsuri and was unveiled to four thousand fans at their training ground just as he had done at every one of his previous clubs ronaldo hit the ground running and finished his first season in italy with 25 serial goals and was named the league's player of the year accolades were never that far away when ronaldo was concerned as would prove to be the case throughout 1997 once again ronaldo would be crowned fifa world player of the year lifting the ballon d'or for the second time in as many years his sublime individual goal in enter's three nil victory over lazio helped him clinch the 1998 uefa cup his second piece of european silverware it was during this time at inter that ronaldo adapted his game to that of a complete forward always a prolific goal scorer he was now adding assist to his game as well as scoring a number of free kicks and penalties it was this outstanding form and goal scoring prize that led to his selection for his second world cup in 1998 whereas he was merely a bystander four years previously this time he would be the main man and the hopes and dreams of a nation would lie squarely on his shoulders brazil arrived in france the undeniable tournament favourite as reigning world champions they were seen as the team to beat and immediately stamped their authority on the tournament victories over both scotland and morocco were followed by a shock defeat to norway as the brazilians topped their group to advance to the knockout phase where they would put fellow south americans chile to the sword with a 4-1 victory a nervy 3-2 win over denmark in the quarter-finals set up a semi-final against european power houses the netherlands after a one-all draw the game would go to a penalty shootout which the brazilians would win booking their place in the final as they look to retain the world cup trophy the final would be a showpiece occasion against host france at the stat de france in sandini ronaldo has scored four goals in the tournament thus far and it was expected he would add to his tally in the final on the day of the biggest game in world football however one of the most mysterious events in the history of the tournament would take place upon receiving the team sheets for who would start the game for brazil ronaldo's name was not on it questions were asked and accusations flew as everyone was desperate to understand why brazil would leave out their star man for the most important match in the world game at 8 18 pm however 40 minutes before kickoff brazil submitted a modified team sheet with ronaldo's name reinstated it was revealed seven years later that ronaldo had suffered a convulsive fit on the afternoon of the game had lost consciousness and spent three hours in the hospital but decided shortly before the match began that he still wished to play subsequently the french would dominate the final and claim their very first world cup triumph on home soil as ronaldo along with his brazil teammates were left to rue the bizarre circumstances which led to their defeat on the grandest stage upon his return to milan following the world cup ronaldo was appointed club captain and continued his rich fan of goal scoring form scoring 15 goals in 28 games in all competitions during the 1998-99 season entered high hopes going into the following season with their attack including ronaldo and italian stars roberto baggio and christian vieiri however on the 21st of november during a serie a match against leche ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the field a medical examination confirmed that he had ruptured a tendon in his right knee and would require surgery during his comeback on the 12th of april 2000 he played only six minutes during the first leg of the cup italia finally against lazio before suffering a complete rupture of the cruciate ligament in the same knee ronaldo's physiotherapist milton patron said his kneecap actually exploded and called it the worst football injury he had ever seen due to the severity of the injury he was forced to miss the entirety of the 2000-2001 season as well as a majority of the following campaign it was from this point on where many who knew him said that he was never the same still an incredible player but nowhere near the force he had been having been given only a 50 chance of returning to the game ronaldo returned to the field for inter in september 2001 but only played a bit part role as he looked to regain his place in the brazil squad for the 2002 world cup having looked thoroughly unconvincing in their qualifying campaign without ronaldo brazil arrived at the world cup tournament with a point to prove having been on the losing side four years previously and having returned from what should have been a career-ending injury ronaldo was determined to silence those who had written him off brazil coasted through the group stage winning all three games with ronaldo scoring four goals as they progressed to the last 16 where they would play belgium a two-nil victory with ronaldo scoring a second saw brazil matched up against england in the quarter-finals now infamous ronaldinho goal sealed a 2-1 victory for the sala sao as they marched on to the semi-finals where they took on turkey whom they had previously defeated in the group stage once again it would be ronaldo who made the headlines scoring the only goal of the game to advance brazil to their third world cup final in a row it would be germany that would stand between brazil and their fifth world cup triumph ultimately ronaldo would find his redemption as his two goals in the final play the demons of four years ago to rest as he and his brazilian teammates required world champions once again his two goals put him level with the legendary pele with 12 goals in world cup tournaments any lingering doubts about ronaldo's ability to come back after such a horrific injury were now extinguished he finished with eight goals in the competition receiving the tournament's golden boot as well as subsequent accolades such as the glorious world sports award for comeback of the year and the bbc world sports star of the year award in an interview following the tournament ronaldo was quoted as saying i've said before that my big victory was to play football again to run again and to score goals again this victory for our fifth world title has crowned my recovery and the work of the whole team his list of achievements that year continue to grow as he won his third fifa world player of the year proving to the world once again he was the very best that the sport had to offer after five years and 59 goals in 99 games at inter milan ronaldo was on the move again following his world cup success it would be the giants of real madrid who would entice him away from italy as he became the latest in the star-studded team known as the galacticos alongside the likes of zinedine zidane david beckham and luis figo despite being sidelined by injury until october his debut was worth waiting for as he scored twice on his first appearance for royal coming off the bench to bag a brace against alavez the los blancos faithful took to their new starman immediately despite his previous association with fierce rivals barcelona despite not being the same player he was when he played for their rivals ronaldo still ended his first season in madrid with 30 goals in all competitions which helped real madrid to a league and cup double as well as an intercontinental cup triumph with ronaldo scoring in the final of both of those cup competitions it was during this time where he arguably had his greatest performance on the european stage scoring a hat-trick at old trafford against manchester united in their champions league quarter-final second leg all corners of the ground gave him a standing ovation as he was substituted in the 67th minute with united's assistant coach mike phelan even acknowledging his performance saying that he got the standing ovation he deserved from the crowd that's the first time i really felt a special player was out on a football field i don't think there was anybody in the stadium who didn't stand up and i count myself in that as the opposition coach you just understand when you see quality the following season 2003-4 real were on track for a travel until an injury forced ronaldo out of action they would lose in the copa del rey final be knocked out of the champions league against eventual winners monaco and suffered a huge dip in league form their only real highlight of a disappointing season was a victory over eternal rivals barcelona at the nou camp for the first time in 20 years as ronaldo scored the second goal in a 2-1 victory against his former club his final two seasons in madrid saw his playtime dwindle due to injuries and problems with his weight along with the sighting of new forward route van nistelroy he fell out of favour with then manager fabio cappello in 2007 after four and a half years in madrid ronaldo had racked up over a century of goals 104 to be precise becoming only the fifth foreigner to achieve that fate in the history of the club at that time despite questions surrounding his fitness ronaldo was elected to play in his fourth world cup tournament in 2006 in germany as brazil looked to retain their status as world champions although brazil won their first two group games against croatia and australia ronaldo was repeatedly jeered for being overweight and slow but coach carlos alberto pereira kept him in the starting lineup with two goals against japan in the third game ronaldo became the 20th player to score in three world cups and also equal the all-time world cup final scoring record of 14 held by garrett miller he then went on to break muller's record in the round of 16 match against ghana by scoring his 15th career world cup goal with his third goal of the tournament ronaldo became only the second player ever after jurgen klinsmann to score at least three goals in each of three world cups brazil however were knocked out by france by a goal to nil with a goal by striker sierra henry in the quarter-finals this would be the final time that ronaldo would grace the pitch on the game's biggest stage finishing with a record of 15 goals in 19 world cup appearances halfway through the 2006 2007 season ronaldo would return to italy however this time he would be lining up in the red and black of his former club's bitter rivals ac milan departing real madrid having been the club's leading goal scorer for all four full seasons ronaldo thanked everyone except former coach cappello i would like to thank the fans who've supported me all the time and thank all the teammates that i've had there and all the coaches i've had except one cappello who dropped him due to weight issues commented i wish him the best of luck in doing what he used to do which is being a great player wearing the number 99 jersey he made his debut as a substitute on the 11th of february 2007 in the 2-1 victory over livorno the next game at siena on the 17th of february ronaldo scored twice and assisted a third goal in his first start for the rossoneri as they won by four goals to three in his first season ronaldo scored seven goals in 14 appearances despite finishing a disappointing fourth in the serie a table and losing in the semi-finals of the cup of italia milan progressed through to the final of the champions league that season where they would play liverpool in a repeat of the infamous 2005 final in a cruel trust to fate ronaldo wasn't eligible to play in the game as he had already played for real madrid earlier on in the tournament milan would go on to avenge their 2005 defeat lifting their seventh european cup however there would be no medal for ronaldo despite tremendous success throughout his career the champions league was the only major trophy that would elude him with the closest he would get to winning it being in 2003 where real madrid lost in the semi-finals to juventus the following season saw ronaldo scored two goals in six area games until the 13th of february 2008 in a match against livorno he would once again be put out of action for over a year as he ruptured the patellar ligament in his left knee the same injury that had occurred during his time at inter except this time in the opposite knee as he was stretched from the pitch in tears many thought this would finally be the end of his stellar career considering how difficult it was for him to return to the game after the first instance of this injury six years prior ronaldo was released from ac milan at the end of the 2078 season as the club would not renew his contract leaving him as a free agent still recovering from his injury he would train with brazilian club flamingo in an attempt to regain fitness for yet another improbable return on the 9th of december however ronaldo signed a one-year deal with flamengo's league rival corinthians the announcement received much publicity in the brazilian press about his choice of corinthians over flamengo since ronaldo publicly declared himself a flamenco fan he made his debut for corinthians on the 4th of march 2009 in the cup of brazil and scored his first goal for his new club just four days later against palmyras ronaldo would finish the season with 23 goals in 38 games helping lead his side to a league and cop double clinching the campionato palista and the copper do brazil scoring in the finals of both competitions ronaldo would sign a one-year extension in february 2010 at the end of which he said he would finally end his career after scoring 12 goals in 27 that season ronaldo would finally announce his retirement in february 2011 after corinthians were eliminated from the copper limited doors putting to an end an 18-year career in an emotional press conference on the 14th of february he cited pain and hyperthyroidism as the reasons for his premature retirement he discovered he had hypothyroidism a condition which slows down the metabolism and causes weight gain during tests with milan in 2007. ronaldo admitted his body had finally succumbed to the crippling litany of injuries that had blighted his career it's very hard to leave something that made me so happy mentally i wanted to continue but i have to acknowledge that i lost to my body the head wants to go on but the body can't take anymore i think of an action but i can't do it the way i want to it's time to go despite his retirement in the sport it was announced that he would be given one more game for the brazilian national team in the friendly against romania on the 7th of june 2011 five years after his last appearance for the national side despite it being almost unheard of in international football for players to be given a farewell match for their national side the brazilian football confederation officials stated that the given the stellar career of ronaldo it was only fitting that his final game should take place in brazil whilst representing his nation introduced after 30 minutes ronaldo played the remainder of the first half before making a farewell speech to those in attendance at half time with 62 goals and 98 appearances he is the third highest scorer in the history of the selisao behind only pele and neymar with an olympic bronze medal two copper america victories a confederations cup win and two world cup triumphs the star of ronaldo arguably shown its brightest in the famous yellow jersey of his homeland since his retirement in 2011 ronaldo was refused to fade into obscurity which was unlikely to happen regardless given his reputation in the game he's launched a number of ventures including a sports marketing company alongside former ufc middleweight champion anderson silva as well as being the co-owner of a1 team brazil alongside former f1 driver emerson fidepaldi he has also stayed in the realms of football having been a minority owner of the fort lauderdale strikers in the nasl in 2014 as well as opening a number of youth football schools through ronaldo academy throughout the world in september 2018 ronaldo became the majority owner of spanish club real via delete after buying a 51 controlling stake in the club for 30 million euros in december 2021 ronaldo also bought a controlling stake in his boyhood club cruzeiro investing 70 million dollars in the club ronaldo stated he wants to give back to grazero and take them where they deserve to be despite having retired from the game over a decade ago his impression on the sport continues to grow year after year [Music] simply put ronaldo is without question the greatest striker of all time not only renowned for his explosive goal scoring ability finding the net 414 times in 616 appearances for both club and country he redefined what it meant to play as an attacker becoming a complete forward with his ability to not only provide assists for his teammates due to his incredible vision crossing and passing but he uses pace power technical ability and composure to finish off chances that were presented too he was a pioneer for the new breed of 90s striker who would operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards the goal his ability to finish with both feet and his exceptional dribbling skill helped him master this style of play the electricity he provided on the pitch would filter through to the fans watching him in the stands as there was a tangible excitement every time he touched the ball for a player to come back from one potentially career ending injury is rare but to do it twice and to continue to score goals as frequently as he did is near impossible but the impossible is what ronaldo reveled in proving that he was indeed what everyone who saw him said he was a phenomenon

Channel: Full Time Football

Views: 204,057

Keywords: ronaldo, r9, brazil, original ronaldo, r9 ronaldo

Id: U4-9S1NhmAY

Length: 24min 52sec (1492 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 08 2022