Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, in his pomp, was undoubtedly the best footballer in the world. With the ball at his feet, not many players could replicate the fear that the Brazilian generated in defenders when he surged with speed at them.
He was a striker who sometimes played as a winger - fearlessly with the ball - with his finishing and decision making being devastatingly good for the majority of his career. Ronaldo struggled with recurring knee problems which made him miss out on games, trophies and most importantly - a place alongside the likes of Diego Maradona and Pele.
One of football's most apt "What ifs?" can be said to be the alternate scene of world football had Ronaldo remained fully fit during the peak of his career. Tactics and strategies never interested Ronaldo, he just had one clear idea in mind - to get on the ball and run with it to score a goal.
Ronaldo's eventful journey took him to the heights at Inter Milan, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid while his most beautiful football moment came in a yellow shirt when he helped his homeland, Brazil to win the 2002 World Cup.
"Il Fenomeno" - The Phenomenon won every possible individual accolade that came in his way. He was an idol to the current legends of the game like Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic with his bullying style of play clearly evident in their illustrious careers as well.
Arguably the world's most dangerous striker had his fair share of controversies but he always rose above them with his brilliant goals and a peculiar smile on his face. Though Ronaldo was a much talked about public figure throughout his playing career, there are some facts about the Brazilian that have not come out in the open.
Right here, Sportskeeda reveals 9 facts that you probably didn't know about Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima:
#1 Played with the name 'Ronaldinho' till 1999 for his country
Ronaldo was just 17 and an unused substitute when he was included in the Brazil squad that won the 1994 World Cup. The Samba boys already had a Ronaldo in the team before the youngster arrived in the first team squad.
Ronaldo Rodrigues de Jesus or Ronaldao (which translates to Big Ronaldo in Portuguese) was the senior member of the squad, hence the 17-year-old came to limelight as Ronaldinho (translating to Little Ronaldo).
During the 1996 Olympics, Ronaldo played with the name 'Ronaldinho' on the back of his shirt as Brazil won the bronze medal. Three years late, another youngster with the same name joined the first team squad. Therefore, Ronaldo de Asis Moreira became the world famous 'Ronaldinho' that we all know while Ronaldo retained his original name for the rest of his career.
#2 Youngest recipient of the Ballon d'Or honour
Ronaldo joined FC Barcelona from PSV Eindhoven for a world record fee of £19 million in 1996. He remained with the Catalans for just one season but what he achieved in that one full campaign helped him build a lifelong legacy at Nou Camp.
He was just 20 when he made a move to the Spanish giants and scored a staggering 47 goals in 49 appearances for Barcelona which helped the Catalans to the Spanish Cup and the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.
As soon as he turned 21, Ronaldo won the FIFA player of the year award and the coveted French Football's Ballon d'Or prize in 1997 which made him the youngest recipient of the award at 21 years of age. The record still stands strong as only Michael Owen, then of Liverpool came close to snatch that record away from Ronaldo when he won the Ballon d'Or back in 2001.
Owen missed out on becoming the youngest ever Ballon d'Or winner by a couple of months.
#3 Giving Nesta his worst experience
The 1998 UEFA Cup final in Paris between Inter Milan and Lazio saw Ronaldo change his perception from a world class player to a phenomenon. The match was labelled as a battle between the best upcoming attacker in Ronaldo versus the best upcoming defender in Lazio's Alessandro Nesta.
But in the 90 minutes, it became evident that the match-up turned out to be a walk in the park for the Brazilian.
Inter beat their Italian counterparts 3-0 with Ronaldo scoring the final goal on the night. But the biggest talking point from the game was the tormenting effect that Ronaldo had on Nesta. The Italian was the subject of stepovers and elasticos from Ronaldo which made Nesta fall on his backside on numerous occasions in the match.
Nesta admitted after the game that, "It was the worst experience of my career. He was simply unstoppable."
#4 Ronaldo received a standing ovation at Old Trafford
On 23rd April 2003, Old Trafford faithful witnessed a European classic as Manchester United took on Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals. Manchester United won the second leg at home but failed to advance on aggregate as a Ronaldo hat-trick spoiled their party with the match ending 4-3 in favour of the Red Devils.
Ronaldo was at his destructive best as he helped Real withstand the pressure which was generated by the in-form trio of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and David Beckham. After scoring a well-deserved treble, the smiling assassin was substituted amidst a surprising standing ovation from the entire crowd which took even the player aback for a moment.
Madrid directors in the stands were also impressed by the rapturous applause for the Brazilian genius.
After the game, David Beckham said, "Ronaldo destroyed us. The whole crowd got to their feet and gave the bloke the kind of ovation a United player would have got. The Manchester crowd knows its football and knew they’d been privileged to be there, watching Ronaldo play.
“I felt really proud of them in a different way that night, watching their reaction as Ronaldo walked off with his hands above his head, clapping back."
#5 Mystery surrounding his fitness in the 1998 World Cup final
When Brazil faced France in the grand finale of the 1998 World Cup, all eyes were on the best player in the world at that time - Ronaldo. But the biggest football stage turned into a full-fledged scandal as Ronaldo's name was not included in the starting lineup.
In a turn of events, he was later added to a new team sheet and what followed was a blame game between the authorities and a mystery about the player's health which to this date, remains a mystery and only a handful of people have an idea about it.
Ronaldo had suffered a seizure on the afternoon of the final when he was saved by his teammates and had to be taken to a hospital. He was discharged after an hour or so and the striker then informed coach Mario Zagallo that he was fit enough to start the game but the doctors denied permission for him to take the field.
Medical experts were shocked to see a player play such a high octane game of football even after suffering a fit few hours ago.
After the final which Brazil lost comfortably, many conspiracy theories began to emerge. One being that Nike and the Brazil federation, CBF had a £105 million deal in place as they pressurised the manager to include Ronaldo in the playing XI.
Globo had also reported that Ronaldo had a fit on that day when he was with Roberto Carlos which was caused by an injection of a cortisone with an anaesthetic that was given to him on the morning of the final. The publication had also claimed that the drug entered Ronaldo's veins which caused him to faint.
#6 Ronaldo was jeered by his own set of fans at the Bernabeu
O Fenomeno moved to ply his trade for Los Blancos after a five-year stint with Inter Milan. His signing was a statement of intent from Real Madrid as Ronaldo had recently played a huge part in Brazil's 2002 World Cup success
During his three years with Madrid, Ronaldo scored 85 goals in all competitions but could not get accepted by the highly critical Bernabeu crowd. The Real loyalists were taunting Ronaldo about his weight and also about the fact that he had won just one league title during his second spell in Spain.
This made Ronaldo disinterested at Real Madrid and hence moved to AC Milan in January 2006. He once opened up about his troubled relationship with the Bernabeu crowd when he admitted, "I have never felt loved at the Santiago Bernabéu and I don't understand why. I have never been treated with affection here."
Also Read: 5 Real Madrid legends who were booed at the Bernabeu
#7 The Brazilian suffered from hypothyroidism
Two-time World Cup winner Ronaldo was body shamed by the fans, media and even by his fellow managers when he started to gain weight in the latter part of his career. When he announced his retirement in 2011 due to health reasons, Ronaldo revealed that he suffered from hypothyroidism.
In a press conference, he admitted that he came to knew of the thyroid condition four years ago and that he had to take hormone injections to continue playing which were banned by the regulatory board, hence he called it a day.
Sir Alex Ferguson once absent-mindedly made a comparison between Ronaldo and his Portuguese namesake by saying that, “If I compare Cristiano with the fat one, the old one, Cristiano is better." This perception was held by many as fans around the globe chanted, "El Gordo" (The fat one) at stadiums when Ronaldo was in possession of the ball.
It was this condition which led Ronaldo to call it a day after a successful 17 year spell.
#8 Ronaldo did a vasectomy back in 2010
The Brazilian married footballer Milene Domingues in 1999 when she was pregnant with his first son, Ronald. He was married to Domingues for four years before parting ways on amicable terms. In 2005, he got married to MTV presenter Daniela Cicarelli in a million dollar ceremony at Chantilly but they were together for only three months.
He then got engaged to Maria Beatriz Antony in 2008 who gave birth to two girls in two years. It was later revealed that Ronaldo had one more child from his affair during the 2002 World Cup with a waitress in Tokyo.
After paternity tests revealed that Ronaldo was the father from his affair in Japan, the Brazilian revealed that he had done a vasectomy on December 6, 2010. Ronaldo said that having four children were enough for him and that he needed to "close the factory" which prompted him to undergo a vasectomy.
#9 The Brazilian co-owned many sports teams after retirement
Along with motorsport legend Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronaldo was the co-owner of racing team A1 Team Brazil. He also formed a sports marketing company called 9INe, with friend Anderson Silva. Also three years ago, Ronaldo held a minority stake in North American Soccer League side Fort Lauderdale Strikers along with a consortium consisting of Brazilian businessmen.
But they failed to guarantee a smooth working of the club, which is one of the oldest in North America and had to leave after fan protests.
An avid Poker player, Ronaldo became a member of Pokerstars SportsStar in 2013. He also played a charity poker game against tennis superstar Rafael Nadal in 2014. He was also appointed as the Goodwill ambassador by the United Nations and the Brazilian also worked for many charitable organisations after retirement.
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