It has recently been a quarter of a century since Ronaldo Fenomeno’s run against Compostela left the football world breathless, Bobby Robson speechless and Laurent Blanc bowing to the guy who many still see as the best footballer of all time.That goal of the Brazilian striker was his trademark. One fan site calculated that Ronaldo managed to score as many as 90 goals during his injury-plagued career by dribbling past the goalkeeper…”Goals are like children to me,” answered Ronaldo when asked if the goals from the 2002 World Cup final were his favorite goals he scored. “I love them all equally. I simply cannot love one child more than the other.”However, his mastery against Compostela, when he ran more than half the field and dribbled through rivals incredibly, stands out as something special, for several reasons…”It is true that that goal defined a part of my career. But when I got injured it became much harder for me to do that because I lost some of my speed. I could no longer run past five or six players and I had to reinvent myself as a striker.”He did lose his speed, but what hasn’t changed is his lethal ‘nose’ for goal and one-on-one situations. It was something natural for him; he shook the nets with such ease that it was terrifying for everyone who watched his miniatures from the sidelines. It was even worse for those who stood opposite il Fenomeno, aware of what awaited them… He defied the laws of physics, and when his patellar tendon ruptured in 2000, the American surgeon who operated on him told him that he would never be able to play the game…All this happened two years after he suffered a nervous breakdown and a seizure the night before the 1998 World Cup final. The words of the then Brazilian team doctor Jose Luis Ranco are proof that the then-21-year-old Ronaldo was carrying a tremendous amount of pressure on his back. However, he managed to get out of the clutches of mental and health problems and, just as the description of his documentary “Phenomeno” says, to redeem himself during the 2002 World Cup. Before that tournament, he did not play much because he was still recovering from a serious knee injury, and according to his own admission, he played the second half of the quarter-final against England in great pain…On this day in 1999, Ronaldo suffered a knee injury that would keep him out for three years… 🚑He returned for the 2002 World Cup – top-scoring with eight goals as Brazil won the competition! 🏆O Fenômeno. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/X8KZAH1Lxt— GOAL (@goal) November 21, 2018 “When Michael Owen scored for 1-0, we were all a little nervous. We knew we had a lot of time to turn the game around, but the English played very well. They were very aggressive, compact, they played against us physically,” recalls Ronaldo and continues:”Ronaldinho then did something spectacular to create a three-on-two situation to equalize.” He was later sent off for a silly foul. That’s how it is when you tell an offensive player to play defense – we just can’t do that.”Before he was sent off, Ronaldinho scored that famous goal through David Seaman directly from a free kick from over 40 meters…”He surprised everyone with that goal. We met two months ago in Portland. I asked him to tell me if he wanted to do it, and to this day he tells me that he did. I remember that a month after the World Cup he was doing an advertisement for a Brazilian newspaper, he was supposed to repeat what he did against Seaman. Out of ten attempts, he never succeeded, it was very difficult. He still claims he wanted to do it. We never trained for such things, it just happens when you’re a genius. At that moment it seemed completely logical. Ronaldinho could do whatever he wanted with the ball.”Even though in 2002 Rivaldo and Ronaldinho carried a heavy load until the end, Ronaldo was still the absolute hero of Seleção. He scored eight goals in seven games and thus redeemed himself in front of the people for the final four years earlier, when France easily took the title with a 3-0 victory.Ronaldinho caught everyone off guard and sent Brazil to a World Cup semifinal on this day in 2002 ⚽️(🎥: @FIFAWorldCup)pic.twitter.com/qQafQzjUO3— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 21, 2021 Today, Ronaldo enjoys life as the owner of Spanish Valladolid and Brazilian Cruzeiro. He says that there are fewer and fewer players who have the feeling that he had when he finds himself in the penalty area, that things are done more mechanically. He noticed that in the case of the former Valladolid striker – Keko.”In one game during my first season as president of Valladolid, the result was tied, and five minutes before the end Keko just kicked the ball three meters in front of the goalkeeper. You could see how desperate he was to get rid of her as soon as possible. After the game I approached him and asked him why he did that. He had the option to choose what to do and simply finish the play, but he chose the easiest thing at the time. When your goalie comes out, no matter what you do you will have an advantage over him. If you dribble past him, he can’t respond that quickly, if you kick a meter past him, there’s no way he’ll get there fast enough to throw himself and intervene. As a striker, you see the ball, the goal and the goalkeeper, everything is in front of you. Everything you do except shoot directly at the goalkeeper will end up in your favor.”Asked if he thought about becoming a coach, he claims that he “dribbled past” that call, as he once did as a player…”I prefer to buy clubs, not to interfere in those things within the team. I’m a football man and the idea of being a coach just kills me. As a player you have the same routine and when you finish your work you go home. As a coach, you have to take care of 25 players who would f**k with you. It is inconceivable to me to think of myself as a coach. I was never even close to deciding to become an expert. Again, I have nothing against a role in the administration.”You want your club’s promotion to the top-tier? Let Il Fenomeno buy itBrazil has been waiting for the world title since 2002, when Ronaldo’s team became the last South American champion of the planet. Today’s generation with Tite on the bench ranks high among the favorites to win the throne…”Tite will have a lot of problems how to assemble the team. Vinicius has to start, Raphinha is playing fantastic and then you have Rodrygo and Neymar who are in good form. Plus Gabriel Jesus, who plays well at Arsenal, Richarlison, Antony… I don’t know how the coach will fit them all in.”The nation hopes that Neymar will be Brazil’s talisman in Qatar…”If we talk only about football, I doubt that there is anyone who does not like Neymar. It’s true that his private life is something completely different, but that doesn’t interest me personally. Hardly anyone will tell you that they don’t like to see what Neymar does on the field.”Ronaldo’s private life was also heavily monitored at one time, but despite everything, he was loved wherever he appeared. Even today, it is recounted how Ronaldo was sent off from Old Trafford with the applause of the entire stadium after his hat-trick against Manchester United. Island media revealed that United fans chanted “Fergie, Fergie, bring Ronaldo” as he left the field, but he says he was not aware of it at the time…Ronaldo: Zidane was the first to visit me in the hospital; in my day nobody cared about the mental health of the players”Honestly, I didn’t, but it was a special night for me. That’s when I fell in love with the United fans, because they recognized what I had done despite their club’s heavy defeat. They greeted me as if it was a completely normal thing. Even today I have a framed photo in my house of me leaving the Old Trafford pitch and you can see the fans applauding me. A wonderful memory”.Ronaldo once again said that in Kylian Mbappe he sees something closest to what he did more than two decades ago, but that Erling Haaland is a striker to his liking. Also interesting was his answer to the question of whether he would like to see Lionel Messi with the World Cup trophy in his hands if Brazil fails…”Only if he took his previous Spanish or Italian citizenship and played for them (laughs). I have a lot of respect for Messi and everyone in Argentina, but I can’t imagine them as world champions, I just can’t because of the rivalry that exists with Brazil,” says Ronaldo and continues:”Does Messi deserve the world crown? Absolutely! But not with my support. I love him, but I’m sure he understands why I can’t be on his side.”Brazil has already named three candidates to replace Tite after the World CupSouth America certainly has two contenders in Qatar…”It is true that European teams have dominated football since 2002. The reason for this is that they play much more dynamically, aggressively and score goals like the Brazilians. The French and the Spanish are artists, the Italians dominate the continental championships, the Germans are always at the top. Also, there are always high expectations from England. Again, Argentina is on a streak of 35 matches without defeat, so I expect a good tournament from them.”Regardless of how the World Cup ends, Brazil will have to look for a new coach as Tite has already announced his departure from the bench. Ronaldo has his favorites when it comes to naming a successor…”I would like to see Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti. I believe they would achieve something historic with Brazil. And not only with the national team, I believe that they would change Brazilian football for the next 100 years”.Could he help such a thing happen?”To bring them to Valladolid or Cruzeiro”, answers il Fenomeno with a characteristic smile:”That’s the only thing I can do, although I have my own problems with budgets and players.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6745967##In the end, the inevitable topic is always – the best of all time. Many believe that it is Ronaldo Nazario da Lima; today’s generations “wrestle” between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while the older ones also have other favorites such as Diego Armando Maradona. The Brazilian has his own list of candidates for this title, but Cristiano Ronaldo is not on it…”There is a special group of players like Maradona, Messi, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Pele, Van Basten, Ronaldinho… I would include myself there, so let the fans decide who is the best of all time.”He also underlines that he is not bothered by the fact that today’s youth knows no other Ronaldo than the Portuguese one…”I am not the only Ronaldo and I am aware of that. I did the best I could to carve that name into the stars, but of course others will come along in time and do what they know even better than I do. Now I can’t do anything more as a player, but only as an official”.
