Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima also known as the "FIRST RONALDO" or "THE BRAZILIAN RONALDO", is known as one of the greatest player of all time. He won "THE FIFA BEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR" three times and even won two "Ballon d'Or". 

He was given a nickname called "O Fenomeno". The full meaning of the name is "THE PHENOMENON". But the name been very long, fans decided to give him a shorter nick name "R9".

He was a fantastic striker, who had multi-functional ability and he brought different dimensions to his strikes. He gave the fans, something new to keep them very excited everytime he is on the field.

But how good was Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima?

I am going to take you back in time, to the early 90s. There was a commercial that Nike made, and it went like this: “What if you asked God to make you the best football player in the world? And he was actually listening?”.... Then as the words faded away, they simply showed a clip of Ronaldo O Fenomeno scoring against Compostela without any context…

Just watching the commercial, you knew exactly what they meant…  In reality, everyone always knew…

There has never been a wonderkid more guaranteed to become an all time greats as Ronaldo. 

It is very easy for people to focus on the negatives or the injuries of Ronaldo and the what-ifs of Ronaldo’s career.

But we’re talking about a kid who by the age of 20, before he had won a Ballon D’Or, before he had even arrived at Barcelona, had already played 115 matches and scored 103 goals… I could show you a 5-second clip of him at age 16 and it’d still somehow be enough to convince some of you that he was the greatest of all time.

This were some of the reasons why so many people fell in love with him, this are the reasons he became so famous at such a young age, before he became old enough to drive a car.

And that’s what I wanna focus on, focus on the time before the tragedies came, when Ronaldo’s legacy was yet to be defined… 
It all started with a little child with buck teeth who skipped school to play futsal at his neighborhood club, Valqueire. The ironic part is that, at the time, he had no idea how much of a genius he truly was. Upon seeing there were fifty children present for the trials, he told everyone he was a goalie, convincing himself he had no chance of making it. since, well, they were so few. 

Surely they’d give him a spot…  and he was correct, even if it became clear to everyone—including himself—quite early that he was not a goalie. After sitting out a few games and trailing two goals to Vasco da Gama, his coach decided to just put the new player up front and see what would happen. What happened was that Ronaldo scored four goals and the squad pulled off an incredible comeback against a side they shouldn't have had a chance to play against. 

Obviously after that, he became the team’s star player, and by the end of his first season, he had scored 166 goals and there was even one match where out of his team's 12 goals, 11 were scored by him. 

As you might imagine, Ronaldo had lost all doubt about his abilities by that point.  in fact, he was completely convinced that his calling was football, he even used to say it was his first love. and so completely head over heels, by the age of 12,  his parents had separated, and Ronaldo had started acting out a little. He told his mother he had dropped out of school to concentrate on football. 

She was furious, she told him he would have no future, that he'd grow up to be a nobody, but as much as she tried, she quickly realized there was nothing she could do.  She was a 12-hour shift worker at a diner, so she was unable to ensure he wasn't missing class. and, really, playing football wasn't the worst thing a child could do after going through a difficult period. 

Life full of so many twists, that became the best decision of her life.

His popularity increased over the next two years, and word spread about the young child who had been blessed by the gods. He moved to Social Ramos at the age of 13, then to São Cristóvão at the age of 14, where, despite being six years younger than everyone else, he was even able to play for the under-20s. After that, the big clubs came to town and there was just no getting around it.

Initially, he was given a trial with Flamengo, which sent him over the moon because it was his old club. And he performed so well that they even scheduled a second trial for him. However, they refused to cover the cost of his bus tickets, and because it required four separate rides to get to their training center, he was unable to continue paying for them. so he simply gave up. Still, it's clear that his story didn't finish there. 

Soon after 2 agents swooped in and purchased the player’s rights for a mere 7 thousand dollars and began looking for a club to sign him. Botafogo rejected him, São Paulo refused to pay the 25 thousand they asked for and so for a while he remained at São Cristovão and it could have lasted even longer if not for one little detail...

Guess who was the first team coach at São Cristovão? None other than Jairzinho, the great player and champion of the 1970 World Cup... One of the greatest strikers of all time is the best person to identify one of the greatest strikers of all time. Therefore, after witnessing the 15-year-old kid join the Under 17 Brazilian National Team and still manage to score eight goals, emerging as the South American Championship's best scorer in spite of his team's bad play, Jairzinho personally recommended Ronaldo to his old club Cruzeiro. Well, all they had to do was sign him. And things quickly became quite insane after that. 

The following month, he got his debut for Cruzeiro’s under 20 teams and opened his tally with 4 goals in his first match… Then, before he had even adjusted to his new academy, he became the first amateur player in the history of the club to join the first team on their pre-season tour…

It's interesting to note that Portugal hosted that event. Belenenses was the first team he had played against, and the supporters genuinely gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion of the game. Finally, he confronted Porto, who actually attempted to sign him. 

However, just a few months after Cruzeiro purchased him for the cost of a Toyota Camry, Cruzeiro is reported to have demanded 1.75 million euros from Porto. 

Although teams like Inter were already in the running, they passed on it because it would have been a record signing for them at the time. Really, the child had just turned sixteen. That would have been a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

But moving on, 5 months after his arrival he got his professional debut, that same month he was on the bench as Cruzeiro won the Brazilian Cup for the second time in their history, 4 months after that he was afforded 3 more appearances and scored in 2 of those. And man… by the time October rolled around, he had somehow already become a regular starter and damn near immediately went on a run of 17 goals in 10 matches.

Even so, where should I begin? This comprised four Supercopa Libertadores games. He scored two more goals in the second leg of that match after scoring a hat trick in his debut. Then they played Nacional of Uruguay; he netted the game's lone goal in the first leg and two more in the second, but they were eliminated anyway. 

Despite all of this, he managed to score against every team in the league, with the exception of Flamengo. and he produced his first gem of a performance in a 6-nil victory over Bahia to cap off this incredible run. He becoming the first player in the team's history to score five goals in a single league game...

It was a career-defining moment, for the first goal a penalty, for the second he put up the perfectly weighted pass to assist his teammate, for the third he dribbled the keeper, for the fourth he scored a header, for the fifth another penalty and for the sixth well he caught the keeper off guard, took the ball and scored with an open net… was it gonna get him some fair play award? Definitely not, but nobody cared… he was a genius… he was on the league’s goal scorers’ podium at 16 and as Cafu said “That was the first time he showed the world he wasn’t just a great player, he was a phenomenon”

And he wasn't the only one who was taken aback by the young lad; in fact, PSV scout Ernie Brandt had been in Brazil that same year, searching for a replacement for Romário after the player had left for Barcelona. It would have been an enormous accomplishment if Brandt had found even half of Romário's talent. We are discussing a player who scored 128 goals for PSV in 145 games. however, you already know where this is headed. "I couldn't believe my eyes, I didn't believe them when they told me his age, it should be impossible for a 16-year-old to be that good, Finding him gave me life… I became a scout with the dream of one day finding someone like him" he remarked after witnessing Ronaldo. Still it wouldn’t be that year that Ronaldo would finally leave to Europe.

Prior to that, he would return to Cruzeiro for another season, completely dominating the Mineiro Championship with 22 goals in 19 games, naturally winning the title and top scorer award. He would also add even more unforgettable moments to his record, such as a hat trick against rivals Atletico Mineiro and one of the most memorable goals in Copa Libertadores history against Boca Juniors. which was plenty to throw the entire nation into utter bliss and, in essence, peer pressure the national team coach into selecting the 17-year-old player for the World Cup.

Only Pelé and Norman Whiteside are younger than him; if he had played even a minute in the world cup, he would have become the third youngest player ever. Nevertheless, he only onto the field to celebrate with his teammates after Brazil won the championship. and while one could contend that was somewhat disappointing, Well, it took the mere fact that a seventeen-year-old's name appeared on the roster of the most infamous national team in the world to send shockwaves through AC Milan, Juventus, and Ajax upon his acquisition. which meant PSV was no longer really in the race.

If not for a single little element... Ronaldo had been very close to Romário during the competition, and he now considered him to be his mentor. And naturally, when he sought Romário for advice, he suggested that he rejoin his previous team. claiming that they were the ideal introduction to Europe... However, looking back, it's difficult to deny that there was a chance joining Ajax might have gone a little better. Taking into account that year, when they essentially won the Champions League, You know, the trophy Ronaldo was unable to win in his whole career?

Yeah, regardless of whether he should’ve joined Ajax instead, at least this way we got to watch Van Gaal go on a tirade about how he didn’t need Ronaldo because “he had Kluivert”... Well… Kluivert scored 22 goals that season… Ronaldo… Well, the moment he arrived, they asked him how many goals he would score, he said 30… and well if that seems unrealistic for an 18-year-old first season in Europe, well let me tell you he really did end up not keeping his word… instead he scored 35.

Contrary to popular belief, there weren't many supporters waiting for him when he arrived. In contrast, a player such as Vinicius Jr. might now arrive from Brazil with a few goals under his belt and have forty thousand supporters waiting for him. Things weren't at all like that back then. No one was aware of this child's identity, and PSV did little to facilitate his adjustment to the new nation. He was largely by himself when he arrived at the airport, wearing a piece of paper with his name on it attached to his chest.

He was forced to live in the same apartment as his mother and girlfriend even after his family moved to Eindhoven. and yes, that did lead to some issues. Nevertheless, in the context of football, his adjustment was, well, hardly an adaptation at all; he kind of just showed there and started to dominate.

Following weeks of sporadic commentators debating whether 6 million was excessive for such a young, unknown athlete, that he lacked experience, and that he would, well, flop, Ronaldo scored one goal in the opening match, two in the second, and three in the third. In that third game, he somehow lost to Leverkusen, but his performance shocked the whole continent of Europe. Many claim it was the most important moment of his career.

Numerous legends came out to praise the young guy after the match. That day, even the legendary German figure known as Der Kaiser, Beckenbauer, who isn't readily impressed, was visibly moved. He finally declared, "Today We've witnessed the new Pelé," and let me tell you... Everyone paid attention to what Beckenbauer stated because not many people knew Pelé as well as they did. In a similar circumstance, the renowned Rudi Voller also made sure to remark, "Never in my life have I seen an 18-year-old play like this."

However, what always struck me as odd about that statement was that Ronaldo was only 17 years old on the day he made it.
Even though PSV only managed a third-place finish and no trophies at the conclusion of the season, Ronaldo simply never stopped scoring as the months passed. Ronaldo had smashed his record and kept the one promise he had given to Romário. Romário was undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, and even though he was over six years older than Ronaldo when he joined PSV, Ronaldo had surpassed Romário's record total of 30 league goals during his five years there.

In actuality, only one PSV player had ever reached the 30-goal mark and that was ten years ago when the last player in the Eredivisie accomplished such a feat. Marco Van Basten was the man's name. Following such a season, the major league teams grew even more unforgiving. In particular, Inter made bid after bid in an attempt to make up for the fact that they had been unable to sign him three years prior. PSV, though, never gave up.

Ultimately, in an attempt to demonstrate that they were not in need of Ronaldo, they signed someone they thought would be equally excellent. Caio Ribeiro, who won the golden ball at the under-20 World Cup that year, If you don't remember him, it's likely because, by the time he departed Italy two years later, all he had accomplished was score one goal. Quite embarrassing, huh? Thus,... Ronaldo entered his second season with more explosiveness than ever after a summer in which even Pelé gave him a standing ovation during a match against England. Including netting four goals in one UEFA Cup game. By the beginning of October, he had scored eleven goals in eight games.

But that's when the first warning signs appeared. After a growth surge that saw him gain six kilograms and grow four centimeters, Ronaldo has been moaning since the start of the season that he felt weird, and that month his knee pain finally got to be too much. after a 24-day absence... It's amazing that his kneecaps didn't immediately crumble away after hearing someone once remark that "A Formula 1 breaks down more often than a Corolla." Considering how he played and the force he applied to his knees at every turn. 

It was both terrible and inspiring to watch him in recovery; his level of determination was unmatched. You can hear him speak in one of the videos, and you know what he said: "I need football, I need to score. This is my entire life." If I'm not able to accomplish this, I... I Well, he never did get to finish saying that. still, I believe we can all imagine what he was going to say. Nevertheless, he easily returned and went on a scoring run that saw him score 8 goals in 5 games, including a hat trick in only his second start since the injury, just as everyone was starting to fear the worst. but regrettably, the ride wouldn't stop there. 

December began, and Ronaldo collapsed again. Aside from his knee's obvious pain, an MRI confirmed the worst. Also, it had hardened, necessitating surgery. The surgery was finally completed in February. He was advised to exercise caution and take his time recovering, but he persisted in pressuring the staff to allow him to train with the team. Five weeks later, following PSV's eventual defeat and drop to second place in the standings, he was back on the team sheet."A phenomenon can't fail, he can't have pain, and he can never stop scoring," he would later remark.

Upon hearing this, one might assume that the manager was desperate to keep Ronaldo at the top of the league and tried to force him back, but in actuality, it was Ronaldo who put himself in this situation; he literally got into a confrontation with the manager, furious that he was refusing to play him, and after PSV lost the league to Ajax shortly after, after Ronaldo was limited to just 15 minutes of playing time in the cup final, he lost it completely and started looking for a way to leave the team.

Despite his apparent health problems, he was so amazing that his performances at the Olympic Games the next month made him the front page story of every sports daily worldwide. It seemed like every club on the planet would do whatever it took to win him over. and shortly after, Inter and Barcelona engaged in a bidding battle.

Barcelona was desperate to sign a top-tier striker after failing in multiple attempts to negotiate a deal with Blackburn for Alan Shearer, who insisted the player would never ever leave the club. In the end, it looked like a scene from a Mr. Bean sketch, with Barcelona vice president Joan Gaspart dressing up as a waiter to enter the hotel where the Brazilian national team was staying. Once inside, he approached Ronaldo and offered him a contract against PSV's wishes, which he would literally sign on top of his bed. 

After that, it was just a matter of bringing PSV on board, which was fairly simple given that Barcelona was prepared to pay a record-breaking 15 million euros for the 19-year-old, who had by that point made sure to permanently sour his relationship with the team by labelling his manager as "stupid" and subsequently asserting that he would even play for Barcelona "for free." 

Strangely, two weeks later, Alan Shearer moved to Newcastle, shattering the record for most transfers ever made. All I could do was imagine what looked on the Barcelona board's faces when they received the news. At the end of the year, Ronaldo was crowned FIFA World Player of the Year and narrowly missed winning the Ballon d'Or by one vote. As his mother used to say, "By then, Ronaldo didn't belong to me anymore, he belonged to the world." That's how famous he was. Nevertheless, I'm sure they didn't mind it too much.

When it came to Inter, well, after some problems with contract negotiations at Barcelona, they eventually acquired their guy a year later. smashing the record for most transfers ever again... But even so, it became extremely hilarious when you consider that five years later, he had only managed to play one full season for the club, missing a total of 773 days due to injuries, after they had dropped out of the transfer race because they were scared he was too injury-prone. When asked what his greatest concern was a year before he joined Inter, he said, "Injury—an injured player is the saddest thing there is."