El Phenomenon – Ronaldo

Ronaldo hailed from the footballing giants Brazil and was one of the best strikers of all-time . He won it all and dazzled the world with his array of skills at the same time, the most famous of which were his step-overs that left defenders on the floor more often than not. The Brazilian Ronaldo was the original Ronaldo before Cristiano Ronaldo came on to the scene. But for all the exploits of the Portuguese, “The Phenomenon” can never be replaced as one of the true legends of the modern game.

Ronaldo won it all, individually and collectively. He played as a conventional No.9, a rare breed in modern football today, and one of the most special positions in a team. He won 3 World Player of the Year awards, which was a record until Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both went past it. For a period between 1995-2002, he was hands down the best player on the planet along with Zidane and dominated the world scene. The fact that these two would end up playing for the same club later on left football fans salivating. Ronaldo won the World Cup in 1994 and 2002 with Brazil and also qualified for the final in 1998 against Zidane’s France. They lost that final 3-0 and is one of football’s greatest mysteries.

Ronaldo started his career in Brazil with Cruzeiro before transferring to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, following in the footsteps of another legendary Brazil striker Romario, a player who would go on to have a major impact in his career later (Read toe poke finishes). Following this move, Ronaldo dominated the Dutch league and broke all scoring records and soon caught the eye of most of the European giants, who were all vying for his signature, but in the end it was FC Barcelona who prevailed. Ronaldo just like Romario before him, went on to represent the Catalans with distinction, helping them to a UEFA Cup triumph as well as the league.

It was at this time that Ronaldo hit his peak and was destroying oppositions left,right and center. His speed combined with terrific dribbling was a dangerous cocktail for even the most astute defenders. His step overs at lightning were virtually unstoppable and in any one on one there was always only one winner. Apart from the step over, he also possessed a deadly change of pace and explosiveness that repeatedly saw him leave his markers in his dust. Left foot, right foot he could shoot from either, was a good header of the ball and one of the best finishers the game has ever seen. Not since Pele had a center forward caught the imagination of the entire planet like Ronaldo did. Whenever he stepped on the pitch, it made the life of players around him much easier as he was usually the center of attention for the opposition defense. He could shoot from outside the box, make the acrobatic finish or find the corner with equal aplomb. His vision and ability to set up his teammates was often overlooked, and his teammates can attest to this fact.

He had a characteristic toothy smile with a diastema between his front teeth and it added to his personality in a strange way. His half moon haircut and celebrations at the 2002 World Cup are also memorable, but not as much as his on field exploits where he won the World Cup, yet again.

In 1994 he did not play a game, but in 1998 he was the star and carried his team to the finals. However on the day of the finals, he was found unconscious and it was later revealed he had a “seizure”, although it is still shrouded in controversy. Without their star man and talisman at full strength, Brazil folded and lost 3-0 in what is regarded as one of their biggest disappointments. This was followed by a lean spell when he injured his ligaments in both knees and underwent surgery, never again was he able to play like his old self. The explosiveness, the lightning step overs and extravagant movements were all gone and were instead replaced by a smarter and more intelligent striker, who relied more on finishing and dribbling rather than speed and quickness. He was still good enough to help Brazil to their 5th World Cup triumph, scoring twice in the final against old rivals Germany and Oliver Kahn and win his third World Player of the Year award. He was subsequently transferred to Spanish Giants Real Madrid where he was a part of the most devastating team ever assembled, Perez’s Galacticos. Alongside Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane, Raul and David Beckham, Ronaldo formed the most entertaining, marketable and skillful team in history. The fact that they could not win the Champions League still remains a mystery to some, but the talent and game play demonstrated by this side was something to behold. The ageing Ronaldo was still a force to be reckoned with and continued toping the scoring charts in the La Liga, incuding winning the Pichichi.

His last World Cup for Brazil came in Germany 2006, where Brazil were once again favourites thanks to their quartet up front of Ronaldo, Adriano, Ronaldinho and Robinho but the team bowed out to eventual finalists, France. He was once again thwarted by good friend Zidane, but not before he passed Pele as the all time leading goal scorer in the history of World Cups, a record that stood till 2014 before Miroslav Klose overtook him.

With the World Cup behind him, Ronaldo now started gaining weight and lost his form and touch that once dominated the world of football. He transferred to AC Milan to revive his career but he never again managed to reach the same heights as he had once done.

His career is a classic example of how much damage injuries can cause. Due to the injuries, his peak came and went very quickly and his career ended rather prematurely. From the explosive player who routinely took on defenders from the halfway line and most often than not found the back of the net, his game was never the same, but such was the talent of El Phenomenon that he still came back to not only win the World Cup, but also the World Player of the Year for a record third time. For those who saw him in his prime, there never was and never will be a better player and there hasn’t nothing been anyone quite like him. No one has had the combination of pace, accuracy, dribbling, finishing and explosiveness like Ronaldo did. He is the greatest player of his time and one of top 5 Brazil players of all time and if not for injuries would have ended up the finest ever to grace a football pitch.