Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian business owner, president of La Liga club Real Valladolid, and a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Popularly dubbed in Portuguese O Fenômeno (“The Phenomenon”), he is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, Ronaldo has been the influence for a generation of strikers that have followed. His individual accolades include being named FIFA World Player of the Year three times, and winning two Ballon d’Or awards. Ronaldo started his career at Cruzeiro and moved to PSV in 1994. He joined Barcelona in 1996 for a then world record transfer fee, and at 20 years old he was named the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the youngest recipient of the award. In 1997, Inter Milan broke the world record fee to sign Ronaldo, making him the first player since Diego Maradona to break the world transfer record twice. At 21 he received the 1997 Ballon d’Or, and he remains the youngest recipient of the award. By the age of 23, Ronaldo had scored over 200 goals for club and country, however after a series of knee injuries and recuperation he was inactive for almost three years. Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2002 and won the 2002–03 La Liga title. He had spells at A.C. Milan and Corinthians before retiring in 2011 having suffered further injuries. Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the third-highest goalscorer for his national team. At age 17, he was the youngest member of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament, helping Brazil reach the final where he suffered a convulsive fit hours before kick-off. He won the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he starred in a front three with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Ronaldo scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top goalscorer. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th FIFA World Cup goal, a FIFA World Cup record at the time. He also won the 1997 Copa América, where he was player of the tournament, and the 1999 Copa América, where he was top goalscorer. One of the most marketable sportsmen in the world during his playing career, the first Nike Mercurial boots–R9–were commissioned for Ronaldo in 1998. He was named in the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players compiled in 2004 by Pelé, and was inducted into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame, Italian Football Hall of Fame, Inter Milan Hall of Fame and Real Madrid Hall of Fame. In retirement from sport, Ronaldo has continued his work as a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, a position to which he was appointed in 2000. He served as an ambassador for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo became the majority owner of Real Valladolid in September 2018, after buying 51% of the club’s shares.
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Ronaldo chose to join PSV after the 1994 World Cup, for which he was selected despite being just 17, but did not play. It was Romário who advised Ronaldo to start his European career at PSV; Romário being a former striker of the team from 1988 to 1993. Ronaldo scored 30 league goals in his first season in the Netherlands. His second season was marred by a knee injury which kept him out of most of the campaign, but he still averaged nearly a goal a game in the league, scoring 12 goals in 13 appearances. With PSV, Ronaldo won the Dutch Cup in 1996 and he was Eredivisie top scorer in 1995. During his two seasons he scored 54 goals in 58 games.
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This shirt was used by Ronaldo during the Serie A game between Bologna and Internazionale which took place in Bologna, “Renato Dall’Ara” Stadium on September 13th 1997. Internazionale defeated Bologna 4-2 and Ronaldo scored his first goal in Serie A exactly with this shirt. After the game Ronaldo swapped his shirt with Michele Paramatti, Bologna former player. The shirt was then auctioned by Michele Paramatti in 2012 for the charity event “Una Maglia per l’Emilia” organized by the player to raise money for people of Emilia Romagna (Italy) who got involved in the tremendous earthquake of 2012.
Match Worn Boots
FIFA World Cup “FRANCE 98”
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Ronaldo entered the 1998 FIFA World Cup billed as the world’s greatest player by reporters in the sport. Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian writes, “In 1998, no one was as ferociously talented as Ronaldo, whose supernatural mixture of power, pace and skill had made him the player every child in the playground wanted to be; at the age of 21, the hopes and dreams of a nation rested on his shoulders.” He scored four goals and made three assists en route to the final. Hours before the final he suffered a convulsive fit. At first, Ronaldo was removed from the starting lineup 72 minutes before the match, and the team sheet (with Edmundo as his replacement) was submitted to the FIFA delegate. The starting line up without Ronaldo was released to a stunned world media. The BBC’s John Motson stated, “The scenes in the commentary box have been absolute mayhem and chaos.” However shortly before kick off, after pleading that he felt fine and requested to play, Ronaldo was reinstated by Brazil coach Mário Zagallo. Ronaldo was the last Brazilian player out of the tunnel as the teams entered the field. During the playing of the Brazil national anthem the camera focused on him throughout, with Ronaldo showing little emotion. Steinberg states that Ronaldo “sleepwalked” through the final, which also saw him injured in a collision with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Zagallo admitted the fears over Ronaldo affected his team psychologically, and stated “for the whole of the first half I was wondering whether to take him off”, but feared a public outcry in Brazil had he done so. Brazil lost the match to hosts France 3–0. Ronaldo later reflected: “We lost the World Cup but I won another cup – my life.” An inquest was launched in Brazil, with team doctor Lídio Toledo telling the commission “imagine if I stopped Ronaldo playing and Brazil lost. At that moment I’d have to go and live on the North Pole.” Adrian Williams, professor of clinical neurology at Birmingham University, said that Ronaldo should not have played, that he would have been feeling the after effects of the seizure, and “there is no way that he would have been able to perform to the best of his ability within 24 hours of his first fit – if it was his first fit.” Despite his sub-par performance in the final due to his seizure hours earlier, Ronaldo was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament for his performances leading up to the final, and finished the tournament as the joint-third highest scorer. The nature of the incident set off a trail of questions and allegations which persisted for years, with Alex Bellos writing in The Guardian, “When Ronaldo’s health scare was revealed after the match, the situation’s unique circumstances lent itself to fabulous conspiracy theories. Here was the world’s most famous sportsman, about to take part in the most important match of his career, when he suddenly, inexplicably, fell ill. Was it stress, epilepsy, or had he been drugged?“
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These boots were used by Ronaldo during the Fifa World Cup “France 98”. They were used in several games and they were given to his team mate the goalkeeper Carlos Germano who we got it from. The boots were given after the World Cup and they were very used and damaged with a sole missing. This Nike Mercurial, especially made for World Cup 1998 for Ronaldo, and used by him only, is definitely the most popular known Nike model ever. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nike Mercurial in 2018 a Ronaldo Mercurial 1998 re-edition was released. See below Ronaldo with the 2018 Mercurial.
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This shirt was issued for Ronaldo for a Serie A game of the season 2000-2001. The shirt was issued for the player but never worn because he was forced to miss almost the whole season due the bad injury happened the season before. The shirt is hand signed by the player with a black marker on front alongside with the Milene Domingues (“Ronaldinha” – Ronaldo’s wife at that time who was also a professional soccer player) signature. The shirt was a personal gift made by Ronaldo and Ronaldinha to the Ronaldo’s agent (whom we got it from) for a special event and it was signed by both of them alongside with the dedication stating “07/07/01 um bejo”. Inter had high hopes going into the 1999–2000 season with their attack including Ronaldo and Italian stars Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri. However, on 21 November, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the field. A medical examination confirmed that the striker had ruptured a tendon in his knee and would require surgery. During his first comeback on 12 April 2000, he played only six minutes during the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Lazio before suffering a complete rupture of the knee-cap tendons. Ronaldo’s physiotherapist Nilton Petrone stated, “his knee-cap actually exploded”, and called it “the worst football injury” he’s ever seen. Ronaldo was forced to miss the entire 2000–01 season and much of the two seasons either side of it.[53] Since his Inter teammate Javier Zanetti had replaced him as the team captain during his absence, he eventually inherited the captain’s armband in late 2001. After two operations and rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title
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In 2002 Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid for €46 million. His jersey sales broke all records on the first day, such was the obsession and hype surrounding him. Ronaldo was part of the Galácticos era, which included Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl and David Beckham. 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 at the Santiago Bernabéu. 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 title for 2003. He also won an 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 at Old Trafford, knocking the English team out of the competition. Ronaldo was substituted on 80 minutes and was given a standing ovation from both sets of fans. Reflecting on the ovation given to him from the opposition’s fans, Ronaldo stated, “For me it remains a very beautiful, very special moment.” He scored in a 2–1 home win over Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, but injury crucially kept him out of most of the second leg defeat where Real were eliminated. In the 2003–04 season, Madrid were on track to win the treble, until Ronaldo was injured towards the end of the season; they subsequently lost the Copa del Rey final, were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals to AS Monaco, and suffered a league form breakdown. During that second season at the club, Ronaldo scored one of the fastest goals in the club’s history when he netted after 15 seconds in a league match against Atlético Madrid at the Bernabéu on 3 December 2003. Three days later he helped to ensure Real’s first league victory over Barcelona at the Nou Camp in 20 years when he scored the second goal in a 2–1 victory over his former club. He finished the season as La Liga’s top scorer with 25 goals and received the Pichichi Trophy for a second time, despite Madrid losing the league title to Valencia.
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The 2002 Intercontinental Cup was a football match played on 3 December 2002, between Real Madrid of Spain, winners of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, and Olimpia of Paraguay, winners of the 2002 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the neutral venue of the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama in front of 66,070 fans. This encounter marked a special occasion for Olimpia and Real Madrid, as both teams celebrated their centenary in 2002. Ronaldo was named as man of the match. Ronaldo opened the scoring for Real Madrid in the 14th minute shooting low right footed past the goalkeeper from inside the penalty box. The second goal was scored by Guti in the 84th minute, heading home at the near post after a cross from Luís Figo on the right.
Match Worn Boots
FIFA World Cup “KOREA & JAPAN 2002”
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Ronaldo was a Nike testimonial. He wore Nike boots since his very beginning. Nike, as it happened for example with Michael Jordan with the AIR JORDAN developed Ronaldo’s own line called R9. Ronaldo’s boots were branded R9 and many other players sponsored by Nike used a similar R9 boots. But Ronaldo’s boots had a small details that made his boots different from the others. He was the only player to have the Nike Swoosh stitched all around. So if you’ll ever have a pair of Ronaldo’s boots make sure to check this detail…If they don’t have it…they are not Ronaldo’s.
Watch all of the FIFA WORLD CUP 2002 goals of Ronaldo.
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Prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo had barely played since rupturing the cruciate ligament in his right knee in April 2000, and he missed Brazil’s entire qualification campaign where, in his absence, the team had not been impressive. In a remarkable comeback from injury that had threatened his career, Ronaldo led Brazil to their record fifth World Cup triumph where he won the Golden Shoe as top scorer with eight goals, and was runner-up to the Golden Ball as most valuable player in the tournament. Dubbed the “three R’s”, Ronaldo starred in a formidable attack alongside Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, and the trio were named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. Ronaldo scored against every opponent in the tournament except in the quarter-finals against England. In the final against Germany in Yokohama, Japan, Ronaldo scored twice and tied Pelé’s Brazilian record of 12 career World Cup goals. Ronaldo was congratulated by Pelé when receiving his World Cup winners medal. Gérard Saillant, the French surgeon who operated on Ronaldo’s knee, was in the crowd as his guest, and stated after the game; “This gives hope to everyone who is injured, even those who aren’t sportsmen, to see that by fighting you can make it. He’s back to where he was; it’s hugely satisfying and I am very moved.” Ronaldo received the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year, and in December 2002 he dedicated his third FIFA World Player of the Year award to the medical team which helped him recover.
Ronaldo’s insole made by Centro del Piede of Montebelluna (Italy)
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This shirt was worn by Ronaldo during a Fifa World Cup “Germany 2006” qualifying game. It supposed to have a badge on the sleeve which it doesn’t. For the World Cup 2006 qualifying games was used by all teams a kind of ironed badge on sleeve that was easily falling down during the game as you can see from the Ronaldo’s image above. That was something really common to see in every game where only few badges were “surviving” until the end.
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Ronaldo is regarded by many in the sport as one of the greatest and most complete forwards of all time. Dubbed Il Fenômeno (the phenomenon), he was a prolific goalscorer, and despite being more of an individualistic attacker, he was also capable of providing assists for his teammates, due to his vision, passing and crossing ability. He was an extremely powerful, fast, and technical player, as well as being a composed finisher. He was capable of playing in several offensive positions, although his preferred role was that of a striker, and he was able to use both feet, despite being naturally right footed. Ronaldo was highly regarded for his technical ability, and he is considered one of the most skillful individual dribblers in the game.Along with Brazilian compatriot Romário and African star George Weah, Ronaldo was seen as a new breed of striker in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal: Ronaldo was frequently capable of beating several players when undergoing individual dribbling runs at speed, and he was also equally competent in one on one situations, due to his ball control, acceleration, agility, balance, quick feet and technical skills. In one on one situations, Ronaldo would often use elaborate feints to trick and beat defenders and goalkeepers; he most notably popularized the use of many football tricks and skills, such as the elastico, the step over, the nutmeg, among others. In his prime, Ronaldo was an extremely fast player with great acceleration, which made him a threat for opposing defences when he undertook individual dribbling runs during counter-attacks.His coach at Barcelona, Bobby Robson, commented: “He was the fastest thing I’ve ever seen running with the ball. Had he managed to stay free of injury, he had every chance of becoming the best footballer ever”, while Lionel Messi states: “He was the best striker I’ve ever seen. He was so fast he could score from nothing, and could shoot the ball better than anyone.” Ronaldinho called Ronaldo “the most complete striker there has ever been.” Ronaldo was also a strong and powerful player who could shield the ball from the opposition, with former Italian defender Alessandro Nesta (who faced Ronaldo in a high-profile one on one duel in the 1998 UEFA Cup final) stating: “Ronaldo is the hardest attacker I’ve ever had to face. He was impossible to stop.” With his quick reactions and anticipation, he regularly beat defenders to the ball, and as a finisher he was effective with his head, and could finish well both inside and outside the penalty area. In addition to these attributes, Ronaldo was an accurate free-kick and penalty kick taker. At his physical peak in the 1990s, Ronaldo later became severely affected by serious knee injuries he would suffer from late 1999 onward and the subsequent weight gain during his inactivity, which limited his speed, fitness, and mobility.
“Ronaldo did things nobody had seen before. He, together with Romário and George Weah, reinvented the centre-forward position. They were the first to drop from the penalty box to pick up the ball in midfield, switch to the flanks, attract and disorientate the central defenders with their runs, their accelerations, their dribbling” Thierry Henry
Watch Ronaldo hat trick against Argentina in 2004
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Ronaldo was the South American top scorer in Brazil’s qualifying campaign between 2004 and 2006, helping them to qualify in first place.On 2 June 2004, Ronaldo scored an unusual hat-trick of penalties for Brazil against arch-rivals Argentina in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match.
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These boots were worn by Nazario Ronaldo during the King’s Cup game between Real Madrid and Ecija which took place in Madrid, “Santiago Bernabeu” Stadium, on November 9th 2006. These boots were exclusively released by Nike for this game only with a special “ninemillion.org” embroidery on sides to support the UNHCR’s campaign called “NineMillion.org” which Ronaldo was testimonial of. These boots with this personalization were used only in this game. Under the slogan “Nine million faces. Nine million names. Nine million stories,” UNHCR and its corporate partners are counting on a major new internet-based campaign to help refugee and displaced children around the world. nine.org was launched on World Refugee Day (June 20) as a new public-private sector initiative and an example of how business partners are helping UNHCR to give refugees hope for a better future. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and his special adviser on sport for development and peace, Adolf Ogi, gave their backing to the campaign in Geneva on Wednesday. “Nine million refugee children. That is unacceptable. We need actions. And not only words. Therefore, this campaign is very important. For refugee children and youth there are few things more important than education and sport. They can make the difference between despair and hope,” Ogi said. “By helping refugee children to learn and play we will be helping them, and the world, to have a better future.” UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres also stressed the campaign’s benefits. “ninemillion.org is about giving the world’s refugee youth a chance to see beyond their current situation and begin to rebuild their lives,” he said on Tuesday. The campaign has received key support from Nike and Microsoft, both members of UNHCR’s Council of Business Leaders. The Toronto-based international humanitarian organization, Right To Play, is also a partner. The campaign includes a 30-second TV spot featuring Brazilian football legend Ronaldo, who is supporting ninemillion.org in his capacity as a UNDP goodwill ambassador. It also features short films about young refugees in Azerbaijan, Uganda and Thailand who share similar experiences, hopes, ambitions and love of football. The films can be seen on the ninemillion.org website, along with photo galleries, stories and blogs. Two-thirds of the money raised through the campaign will be used for education projects in refugee camps. The remaining third will fund sport and play programmes by Right to Play for refugee youth, with an emphasis on getting girls and young women onto playing fields. To kick off the fund-raising effort, the Nike Foundation announced a US$1 million donation. T-shirts featuring the ninemillion.org logo will be available at select Nike retail outlets worldwide and through the ninemillion.org website, with net proceeds supporting the campaign. Nike has also donated 40,000 balls, designed for use in harsh refugee camp conditions, for distribution to refugee youth. In his final two seasons at Real Madrid, Ronaldo missed a number of games with injuries and weight issues, and with the acquisition of Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006, he grew further out of favour with the manager Fabio Capello. Speaking in 2017 on Ronaldo’s weight issues and lack of fitness at Madrid, in addition to his ability, Capello summed up the conflicting emotions he has with the Brazilian, “the most difficult player to handle was the best I coached: Ronaldo, il Fenomeno.” In four and a half seasons at the club, Ronaldo scored over a century of goals, becoming the fifth foreigner at Madrid to achieve the feat after Argentine Alfredo Di Stéfano, Hungarian Ferenc Puskás, Mexican Hugo Sánchez and Chilean Iván Zamorano. Although the knee injuries before 2002 meant he “was robbed of the explosiveness of his early years” by the time he signed for Real Madrid, Ronaldo was named by Marca as a member of the “Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid’s history”. While past his 1990s prime, Ronaldo still drew praise from his Madrid colleagues, with Zidane stating, “Without hesitation, Ronaldo is the best player I ever played with or against. He had such an ease with the ball. Every day I trained with him, I saw something different, something new, something beautiful.” Michael Owen, who joined Madrid in 2004, acknowledged that he never got the chance to play with Ronaldo in his prime when “he had absolute blistering speed and strength, mesmerizing foot speed, he was just a blur, he’d be that fast”, before adding, “even in training, he showed more than enough to convince me that I would have loved to play with him at his peak.” Teammates for six months, Van Nistelrooy said, “Ronaldo was the best natural talent I ever played with. His innate ability went beyond anything that I’d ever seen or played alongside.”
“In the dressing room, I was sat between Paolo Maldini and Ronaldo, who asked me if I wanted to be part of his clan, showing me a copy of Playboy, or if wanted to be part of Kaká’s clan, who had a few church things in the dressing room” Alexandre Pato
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On 18 January 2007, it was reported that Ronaldo agreed terms with A.C. Milan for a transfer of €8.05 million. Ronaldo was forced to pay for the remaining period on his contract which tied him to Real Madrid, only because the latter did not agree to release him, while Milan were not ready to pay such a sum. On 25 January, Ronaldo flew from Madrid to Milan to watch the team play in a cup tie against Roma. Statements on the club’s website said that Ronaldo was in Milan for a medical, and that a meeting had been arranged for Monday with Real Madrid officials to discuss and finalize his transfer to the Milanese club. On 26 January, Ronaldo successfully completed his medical tests at the Milanello training complex under the supervision of club doctors, and the transfer completed on 30 January and got the squad number 99. He made his debut as a substitute on 11 February 2007, during the 2–1 victory over Livorno. The next game at Siena, on 17 February, Ronaldo scored twice and assisted on a third goal in his first start for Milan, as they won 4–3. In his first season, Ronaldo scored seven goals in 14 appearances. After his move to Milan, Ronaldo joined the list of the few players to have played for both Inter Milan and A.C. Milan in the Derby della Madonnina, and is one of two players to have scored for both sides in the derby game (for Inter in the 1998–99 season and for Milan in the 2006–07 season), the other player being Zlatan Ibrahimović. Ronaldo is also one of the few players to have started for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, which also boasts a heated rivalry. Ronaldo, however, has never transferred directly between rival clubs. Ronaldo only played 300-plus minutes in his single season at Milan due to recurring injury problems and weight issues. Ronaldo’s only goals in the 2007–08 season, besides his goal against Lecce in pre-season, came in a 5–2 victory against Napoli at the San Siro, where he scored an emotional brace. It was also the first time Milan’s much hyped attacking trio of Kaká, Alexandre Pato and Ronaldo, known as Ka-Pa-Ro, played together.
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Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, in 1996, 1997 and 2002, and the Ballon d’Or twice, in 1997 and 2002, as well as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 1998. He was La Liga Best Foreign Player in 1997, when he also won the European Golden Boot after scoring 34 goals in La Liga, and he was named Serie A Footballer of the Year in 1998. He was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living players compiled in 2004 by Pelé, and was inducted into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame and the Italian Football Hall of Fame.