Football stories | Ronaldo “The Phenomenon”

The ex-Real Madrid forward – the Brazilian Ronaldo has spoken about a lot of interesting facts about his career, his coaches and his injuries during he was a professional player.

When the forward arrived at Real Madrid he was already a star, who won the World Cup 2002 with Brazil, becoming the top goal-scorer with 8 goals in the competition. As you know, the goal-scoring machine had serious injury problems in the past, being sidelined during the entire 2000/2001 season, when he was at Inter Milan.

Ronaldo remembers his first days as a professional footballer and explains why he has suffered from such serious injuries. “The first 10 days of my career, I was coached really bad, because the coaches were wrong about the training method. They wanted me to run as fast as Roberto Carlos and Cafu, but I couldn’t… I had very severe injuries due to the collective trainings. My injuries weren’t ordinary – they were really tricky. The first time I was injured – I stayed sidelined for 16 months, and the second time – 14 months. There were no players with the same injuries like me. So, no one knew how to treat these injuries. But football was my life and I wanted to get back on the pitch as soon as possible,” The Phenomenon said in an interview.

The Brazilian forward spoke about two of his coaches – Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. Ronaldo has been late for a practice twice within a week, when he was at Real Madrid. Arrigo Sacchi (director of football at Real Madrid in 2004). The first time Ronaldo has been late, Sacchi has lectured him a lot and then the director has fined the player. The next time the Brazilian has been late, he has said Sacchi “lecture or fine – choose one”.

In Ronaldo’s opinion Fabio Capello is a manager, who is out of fashion. So, the forward doesn’t think Capello is among the best football managers in the world. As you know, exactly Fabio Capello made Ronaldo leave Real Madrid in 2007.

The legendary Brazilian loved the nightlife. The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez has once told him that the forward should stay at home more recently, because the frequent nights out might have hindered his development as a player. The president has also recommended Ronaldo to take an example from Luis Figo. The forward has responded to his boss with style: “If I had Figo’s wife, I would have stayed at home all the time”.

Another interesting story with Ronaldo is the accident with the player on the night before the final match of the World Cup 1998. The forward has had throes and Roberto Carlos has saved his life hours before one of the most important matches of his career.

At both ends, Ronaldo is one of the greatest strikers in the history of football. Even though he had so many serious injuries, he managed to make a name for himself. Ronaldo has won almost everything in football. He has scored 15 goals at World Cup tournaments, winning it twice and becoming runner-up once. The only trophy Ronaldo couldn’t lift was the Champions League.