FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

Only occasionally can the bare facts and figures of a player’s career convey the sheer talent that they possess. Ronaldo Luiz Nazario da Silva is quite simply one of the greatest strikers in the history of world football, capable of leaving an entire team for dead with his darting runs and dribbling ability, voted FIFA World Player of the Year on three occasions and already a double FIFA World Cup™ winner. These honours are merely the tip of the iceberg in the record-breaking career of the man they call ‘The Phenomenon’.
Born in the working-class neighbourhood of Bento Ribeiro, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Ronaldo’s precocious talents were recognised at an extremely young age, and it did not take long before he exploded on to the professional scene. At the age of 15 Ronaldo was turning out for Rio club Sao Cristovao, before he was snapped up by Belo Horizonte side Cruzeiro. The young striker was quick to make a name for himself, producing a string of dazzling displays in the Campeonato Brasileiro which saw him receive his first national team call up at only 17 years’ of age. From that moment on, his international career took off.

Having been a member of the FIFA World Cup-winning Brazil squad in 1994, the prodigiously talented teenager joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the same year. In only two years at the club, he scored 54 goals in a mere 57 games – an incredible average of just under a goal every game.

That goal ratio soon attracted Barcelona’s interest, and the Catalan club wasted no time in securing their new star’s signature. At Barcelona, Ronaldo reached new heights, winning the FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 1996 and 1997 along the way. In 1998, and now with Inter Milan, Ronaldo began the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France as a fully-established first-team player for his country. Under the guidance of coach Mario Jorge ‘Lobo’ Zagallo, the Brazilians blazed their way through to the final only to lose 3-0 to their French hosts. It was a result that shook the whole of Brazil to its foundations, and for Ronaldo it signalled the beginning of the most turbulent chapter of his footballing career. On the morning of the final, the mercurial striker suffered a sudden convulsive fit, which almost ruled him out of the match itself. Despite Ronaldo battling on to play, many members of the squad later admitted that the incident destabilised the team at a critical moment.

Injury blow
The worst was yet to come for the Brazilian striker. Having seen FIFA World Cup victory slip from his grasp, Ronaldo then underwent the most difficult period of his career. On 21 November 1999, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the pitch. Medical exams after the match confirmed that the striker had ruptured a tendon in his right knee and would require surgery. Only four months after his operation he returned to action against Lazio on 12 April 2000 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia Final.

However, disaster struck just six minutes into the game when an unmarked Ronaldo twisted his recently-repaired knee. The image of the forlorn Brazilian striker, crumpled in a heap and howling in agony, is one that still shocks to this day.

Again the doctors confirmed Ronaldo’s worst fears, stating that he had torn those same knee ligaments. Opinion was divided as to the extent of the injury, but the future looked bleak. Indeed, many specialists thought that the footballing genius would never fully recover and that his career was as good as over. But, on 20 September 2001, 17 months and eight days after the original injury, Ronaldo was back playing against Romanian club Brasov in a UEFA Cup match in Trieste. Despite the length of his recovery period, it soon became clear that the brilliant Brazilian had lost none of his goalscoring prowess.

In 2002, he moved back to Spain with Real Madrid and the then Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari gambled on the forward’s return to form and fitness by calling him up to Brazil’s FIFA World Cup squad. No one could have predicted a better outcome. Not only had Brazil won their fifth FIFA World Cup, but the ‘Phenomenon’ was the tournament’s top scorer, netting eight goals in only seven games. Only Pele has netted as many goals for Brazil in the competition’s history – both players having scored 12 times. In 2006 Ronaldo will be looking to surpass that figure as well as overhaul Gerd Muller’s long-standing 14-goal record as top scorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup. Opposition defences beware.

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UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile

Real Madrid CF enjoy signing the cream of world talent, and in Brazilian forward Ronaldo, three times the FIFA World Player of the Year, they recruited one of the finest of them all.

National team
Ronaldo made his international debut as a 17-year-old in 1994, although he sat on the bench as Brazil won that year's FIFA World Cup. He sizzled at France '98, although a seizure on the eve of the final rendered him a passenger in the defeat by France. He returned to the game's pinnacle at Korea/Japan, scoring eight goals, the highest total at a World Cup for 28 years, as Brazil triumphed again. He missed the 2004 Copa América success but was integral to his country's bid to reach Germany 2006, scoring regularly.

Club
A teenage prodigy with Cruziero EC, Ronaldo scored 58 goals in 60 games before moving on to Europe and PSV Eindhoven for €6m in 1994. He was a phenomenal success in the Netherlands, his goals securing a €19m move to FC Barcelona.

1996: Another quite brilliant season saw Ronaldo register 34 goals, including the decisive penalty which clinched the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for the Catalan club.

1997: A world record €30.5m move to FC Internazionale Milano followed, and although he enjoyed a prolific first season, scoring in the UEFA Cup final, France '98 left a lasting legacy as Ronaldo hardly played over the next few years.

2002: Bought for €45m, Ronaldo repaid Madrid's faith by scoring 21 times in 30 domestic matches as they won the Primera División. Six goals in eleven Champions League games, including a magnificent hat-trick against Manchester United FC, further showcased his skills.

2004/05: Showed brilliance in fits and starts but still ended as the team’s top scorer with 21 goals from 34 appearances. He celebrated every one by ironically pressing the back of his hand against his forehead in feigned anguish.

Did you know?
Ronaldo said of his much-copied hairstyle at Korea/Japan: "I think there must be a lot of mothers who are very angry with me."

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