Ronaldo

[westcorklad]

Ronaldo (the Brazilian one)has retired from all levels of football.He had a 17 year career at the top and is the World Cup Finals top scorer with 15 goals.

[benin]

Ronaldo (the Brazilian one)has retired from all levels of football.He had a 17 year career at the top and is the World Cup Finals top scorer with 15 goals.

brilliant at his best...but faded at a young age...remember the 2002 world cup hair???

[dr love]

Was it for any particular reason WCL .:,doc

[westcorklad]

Was it for any particular reason WCL .:,doc

From Irish Times.com

Soccer: Former Brazil striker and three-time Fifa World Player of the Year Ronaldo confirmed his retirement today, ending one of the most successful careers in soccer.

The 34-year-old, twice a World Cup winner with Brazil, said injuries and fitness problems prevented him from playing to his best form. He enjoyed a glittering club career in Spain, Holland, Italy and Brazil.

“As you can imagine and you heard during the whole weekend, I’m here today to (confirm that) I’m closing my career as a professional player,” said Ronaldo from his Brazilian homeland.

In an earlier interview with Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, Ronaldo revealed that his long career and succession of serious injuries had finally taken their toll on his body.

“I want to stay but I can’t. I think of a move, but I can’t perform it as I want to. It’s time. My body aches. The head wants to continue, but the body can’t take much more.”

He first moved to Europe in 1994 when he joined PSV Eindhoven from Cruzeiro. A prolific scorer in the Eredivisie, he joined Barcelona despite knee problems which blighted him in his second season in Holland, going on to achieve record-breaking success in Spain.

He spent just a year at Barca, scoring 47 goals in 49 games and becoming the youngest player ever to win the Fifa World Player of the Year award, before contract wrangles saw him join Inter Milan for a then world-record fee of €23 million.

Ronaldo’s success continued at Inter, then Barca’s great rivals Real Madrid, though injury problems hindered his time in Italy. He joined AC Milan in 2007 but after suffering a third serious knee injury he returned to Brazil in 2009.

He will perhaps be best remembered for his international exploits, having scored a record 15 World Cup goals. He scored eight in the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea alone, including both goals in the 2-0 final victory over Germany.

He was the first player to win the World Player of the Year award three times.

[Morpheus]

Thanks WCL. I'd forgotten how great the 'original Ronaldo' was.

He certainly was the master of the 'step over'

[Experienced Punter esq]

the 34 year old won 2 World Cup finals with Brazil FIFA World player of the year 3 times a legendthough shuda stepped down from top level f'ball sooner as he became well overweight for a footballer...

[Doozer]

In fairness though he put on a few pounds
A great player once upon a time

[lovethegirls]

Great player and was great to watch him a few years back.

[Johnson]

Great great player. His hat-trick for Madrid against Man U stands out.

He's also the only World cup winner who can eat an apple through a letterbox.

[Bobby24]

A truly fantastic player only injury stopped him from being one of the true all time great
I know people say that players are paid too much and that they should be able to play x amount of games in a week etc but i think there is a real argument that too much is being asked of the top players these days. Ronaldo was the best player in the world and has had to retire early, Ronaldinho twice world player of the year and his career on the way down by 27/28, Michael Owen Balon D'or in 2001 all but done at the top level by his mid twenties. It used to be a cliche that a player reached his peak at 27/28 there is now a strong argument that it is much earlier than that. A warning to Messie, the gay Ronaldo and others.