Ronaldo Fenomeno - Fan Tribute To The Iconic Striker
Over the years, many players with the name Ronaldo have made history in the world of football. This name is frequently heard among top sportsman rankings and you'll be surprised to know that there are at least six professional footballers with the name Ronaldo from Brazil alone and one from Portugal.
While all of them have made their name in the soccer world, the one rise above them all probably is Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima. Popularly called The Original Ronaldo, Ronaldo Nazario is widely considered to be one of the most famous soccer players in the history of sport. Now a retired Brazilian pro footballer, Ronaldo played as a striker and scored a record number of goals during his 18 year career. His main position in the football field was Centre-Forward and he wore jersey no. 9 in most of his games. Ronaldo Nazario, generally referred to simply as Ronaldo or more simply as R9, was the true finisher of the game apart from a striking forward for the opponents.
Original R9 Ronaldo : The Best Striker of All Time
With his frightening running, dribble skill, and incredible free kick style, Ronaldo was not less than a nightmare for defenders. Football freaks who have watched The Original Ronaldo playing can tell how dominant the Brazilian footballer was during his playing days. Ronaldo actually was the world’s most feared goalscorer at his peak before being devastated by severe injuries to his knees. He had his knee ligament torn twice in the years 1999 and 2000, respectively. Throughout his career, Brazil icon Ronaldo Nazario was compared by football fans with the likes of Diego Armando Maradona and Pele - the two greatest footballers of all times on earth.
Even today, many soccer fans continue to debate as to who is the best between the Brazilian Original Ronaldo, Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi. No matter how long this simmering debate continues among soccer fans, one thing is sure that R9 is not going to lose his title of the legendary Brazilian footballer anytime soon, regardless of the magic moments Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continue to create in the field. The legendary striker is notoriously known for his stints with many different clubs including such arch rivals as Barcelona & Real Madrid and AC & Inter Milan.
Ronaldo Nazário born September 18, 1976 in Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro was named after his father's favorite actor, Ronald Reagan. Nicknamed "O Fenomeno" (The Phenomenon), the legendary soccer player starred for the Brazilian national football team and many European clubs over the course of his spectacular career that spanned almost two decades. At his career’s best in the mid 1990s, the iconic striker played for popular clubs like PSV, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, to name a few. Ronaldo began his professional career at the age of sixteen in 1993 in Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, the Brazilian multisport club based in Barro Preto, Belo Horizonte. Although he made his professional debut in 1993 playing against a Brazilian football team Caldense in the Minas Gerais State Championship, he gained national public attention the same year after scoring five goals in the game against a Brazilian professional football club named Bahia.
While playing for Cruzeiro, the striker scored 44 goals in 47 games which helped the team head to its first domestic knockout football championship in 1993, and the Minas Gerais State Championship the following year. One of the soccer greats of his generation made his first move to Europe in 1994, signing for Dutch side PSV Eindhoven for which he scored 54 goals in 57 games over two seasons before moving to Bobby Robson's FC Barcelona in 1996. For the 1996-97 season, while playing for FC Barcelona, he led the club to triumphs in the Spanish Copa del Rey and � Supercopa de España. By the time his stint with FC Barcelona was over, he had scored 34 goals over 37 different games. By the end of the 96-97 season, he became the youngest player ever, aged 20, to win FIFA's World Soccer Player of the Year Award. With his impressive goal-scoring ability, Ronaldo Nazario established himself as an unstoppable scorer for European football clubs, earning himself the La Liga top scorer award, World Player of the Year and the European Golden Shoe in 1997.
Ronaldo Nazario is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most complete forwards who could do whatever they wanted with the ball. During his playing days, the footballer was a bountiful goalscorer with a powerful body, an unstoppable speed and fast leg movements. His broad vision, excellent passing and crossing ability made him a technical player. Playing as individualistic attacker most of the times, Ronaldo did provide assists for his teammates when needed. Although his preferred role was that of a Centre-Forward striker, but he was capable of playing in many offensive positions on the field. Also, he was able to use both feet in the field, despite being a right-footed naturally.
After playing with several different European teams, Ronaldo moved back to his native Brazil in 2009 to join SC Corinthians, where he played until 2011. In February the same year, Ronaldo announced his definite retirement from football, citing many serious injuries he sustained during the games that he said had begun taking its toll on his health. He sustained two major injuries - first when he ruptured a knee tendon in November 1999 and then injured the knee again five months later. The injuries were serious enough to knock him out of action for almost three years of football in his career.
Ronaldo's injuries may have hampered his playing days, but he continued to win trophies both at national and international levels. The legendary player’s achievements are huge and numerous, including 19 major honours and countless individual awards in his incredible career. Ronaldo Nazario was crowned with the FIFA World Player of the Year thrice, in 1996, 1997 and 2002. Ronaldo was the youngest member of the Brazilian team, aged 17, that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, he was awarded the Golden Ball for player of the championship. He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he scored two goals in the final, and received the Golden Boot for his tremendous achievement.
During the FIFA World Cup in 2006, the Brazilian striker scored his record 15th World Cup goal. He won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 1998 and the prestigious Ballon d'Or two times, in 1997 and 2002. With a score of 62 goals in 98 matches in Brazil, Ronaldo stands as the second-highest goalscorer for his national team, falling behind only Pele. His other achievements include La Liga Best Foreign Player in 1997, and the European Golden Boot after racking up 34 goals in La Liga. He was named in the 2004 FIFA 100 list of the living legends of sports compiled by Pele. He also entered into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame and the Italian Football Hall of Fame. In 2011, Ronaldo hung up his boots after spells at AC Milan and Corinthians in his homeland at 34 years old, concluding a nearly 20-year career.