Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʁoˈnawdu ˈlwiʒ nɐˈzaɾju dʒ ˈɫĩmɐ]; born 18 September 1976),[2] commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a striker. Popularly dubbed O Fenômeno ("The Phenomenon"), he is widely considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time.[3][4][5][6] In his prime, he was known for his dribbling at speed, feints, and clinical finishing. At his best in the 1990s, Ronaldo starred at club level for Cruzeiro, PSV, Barcelona, and Inter Milan. His moves to Spain and Italy made him only the second player, after Diego Maradona,
to break the world transfer record twice, all before his 21st birthday.
At age 23, he had scored over 200 goals for club and country. After
almost three years of inactivity due to serious knee injuries and
recuperation, Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2002, which was followed by spells at A.C. Milan and Corinthians.
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. One of the most marketable sportsmen in the world, the first Nike Mercurial boots–R9–were commissioned for Ronaldo 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.
Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second-highest goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé. At age 17, Ronaldo was the youngest member of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament in helping Brazil reach the final where he suffered a convulsive fit hours before the defeat to France. He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he starred in a front three with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Ronaldo scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as tournament's top goalscorer. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal, which was a World Cup record at the time.
Having suffered further injuries, Ronaldo retired from professional football in 2011. Post-retirement, he 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's time at Barcelona lasted one season, as there were problems with the renegotiation of his contract.[14] Barcelona thought the talking was over having agreed a new long term contract with the best player in the world until 2006, as Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez declared; "He's ours for life".[14] However, when the parties reconvened to finalise the deal the following day, the agreement collapsed, with Núñez admitting: "It's all over, Ronaldo is going".[14] Ronaldo's unhappiness had become evident and at the end of the season, by paying the buy out clause fee in his contract, Inter Milan signed him in the summer of 1997 for a then world record fee of $27 million, making him the second player, after Diego Maradona, to break the world transfer record twice.[14][18]
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. During his time with Inter, he scored several goals against city rivals A.C. 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.[20] The following year, Ronaldo scored a trademark goal against Lazio in the 1998 UEFA Cup Final. Running through defence to go one on one with Lazio goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani, Ronaldo feinted to go right then left, without touching the ball, leaving Marchegiani on his backside, before going right and slotting the ball into the net.[21] His Inter teammate Youri Djorkaeff stated; "Ronaldo was phenomenal. He proved that he was a cut above the rest that season."[21] After the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo finished second for FIFA Player of the Year, behind Zinedine Zidane, and was widely regarded as the best striker in the world.[22] By the end of the 1998–1999 season, he was appointed Inter Milan captain.[23]
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