Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁoˈnaɫdu luˈiz naˈzaɾiu dʒi ˈlimɐ]; born 22 September 1976), commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for Corinthians. Ronaldo was one of the most prolific scorers in the world in the 1990s and the early 2000s. He won his first Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year in 1997 and again won the award in 2002. Additionally, he is one of only two men to have won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times, along with French footballer Zinedine Zidane. In 2007, he was named as one of the best starting eleven of all-time by France Football and was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest footballers compiled by fellow countryman Pelé. In 2010, he was voted Goal.com's 'Player of the Decade' in an online poll, gathering 43.63% of all votes[3] and was also included as Centre Forward in the 'Team of the Decade'.[4] On February 23, 2010, Ronaldo announced that he will retire after the 2011 season, signing a two-year contract extension with the Corinthians at the same time.[5]
Ronaldo has played for Brazil in 97 international matches, amassing 62 goals. He was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994, and 2002 World Cups. During the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with his fifteenth goal, surpassing Gerd Müller's previous record of 14.1993-1994: Cruzeiro
In 1988, Ronaldo began his football career playing for Cruzeiro which was already going on to become a successful club. In his first and only year with Cruzeiro, he amassed 12 goals in 14 appearances and lead them to their first Copa do Brasil championship.
1994-1996: PSV Eindhoven
After he was scouted by famous Dutch scout Piet de Visser, he was soon transferred for US$6 million to PSV in 1994, where he scored 42 goals in 46 league games and reached a total of 54 goals in 57 official appearances. With PSV, Ronaldo won the Dutch Cup in 1996 and was Eredivisie top scorer in 1995
1996-1997: Barcelona

Ronaldo scoring the winning penalty in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Later, he attracted the attention of Barcelona through the interest of Sir Bobby Robson, the manager at the time. He played for Barça in the 1996-97 season, scoring an incredible 47 goals in 49 games (in all competitions) on the way to leading the Catalan side to UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph (where he capped the season with the winning goal in the cup final itself) and to Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España wins. He also won La Liga top scorer award in 1997 with 34 goals in 37 games. Until the 2008–09 season, Ronaldo remained the last player to score more than 30 goals in La Liga. At the age of twenty, Ronaldo became the youngest player to win FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996. He also finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or.
1997-2002: Internazionale
Inter signed him the following year for a then world record fee, and Ronaldo duly helped them repeat his former side's cup-winning run, this time in the UEFA Cup, in which he scored their third goal in the final itself.
Ronaldo adapted to the Italian style of the game in his first season, finishing second on the league's scoring charts. Ronaldo started to develop into a complete forward. He began racking up assists, became first-choice penalty taker, taking and scoring freekicks, and captaining the team at the end of the season. During his time with Inter, he scored several goals against Milan in the Derby della Madonnina. He won FIFA World Player of the Year for the second time in 1997, and collected the Ballon d'Or the same year. The following year, after the FIFA World Cup, he finished second for FIFA player of the year, and third for European Footballer of the Year.
On November 21, 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 knee and would require surgery.[6] During his first comeback on April 12, 2000, he played only seven minutes during the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.[7] After two operations and months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002 he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid. Ronaldo was given his most recognizable nickname Il Fenomeno by the Italian press while playing there. He was named the 20th top footballer of all time for Inter according to Times Online and only his injuries prevented a higher ranking. He played 99 games and scored 59 goals for nerazzurri.Having signed for Real Madrid for €39 million, his jersey sales broke all records on the first day, such was the obsession and hype surrounding him. He was sidelined through injury until October 2002 but the fans kept on chanting his name. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. He received a standing ovation in the Santiago Bernabeu. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals and the La Liga Championship title for 2003, which Ronaldo had previously failed to win while with Barcelona. With Real he also won a Intercontinental Cup in 2002 and Spanish Super Cup in 2003. In the second leg of Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Manchester United to knock them out of the competition. Real was on track to win the treble until Ronaldo was injured towards the end of the 03/04 season, and they lost the Copa del Rey final, were knocked out of the Champions league Semi-finals, and suffered a league form breakdown. This season he finished as the league's top scorer and was awarded the Pichichi despite Real losing the league title to Valencia. Real Madrid were knocked out of the first round of the last 16 in the Champions League by Arsenal, and went a third straight season without a trophy. During his time at Real Madrid, Ronaldo has scored against some of their biggest opponents including several against rivals Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. With the acquisition of Ruud Van Nistelrooy in 2006, Ronaldo grew more and more out of favor with the manager Fabio Capello due to injuries and weight issues.