Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (locally: [ʁoˈnawðu ˈlwiʒ nɐˈzaɾju dʒ ˈɫĩmɐ]; born 18 September 1976) commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer. Popularly dubbed "the phenomenon", he is considered by experts and fans to be one of the greatest football players of all time. He is one of only three men to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award three times or more, along with Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi. He also won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1997 and again in 2002.
Considered by many one of the best strikers of all time, in 2007 he was named in the greatest ever starting eleven by France Football magazine and in 2004 was named in the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players compiled by Pelé. He was inducted Into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2006. In February 2011, Ronaldo announced his retirement from football.
Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second highest goalscorer for his national team. Aged 17, he was a part 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 scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal which was a World Cup record.
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In 1993, Ronaldo began his football career playing for Cruzeiro. Aged 16, he made his professional debut on 25 May 1993 against Caldense in the Minas Gerais State Championship. Ronaldo came to national public attention on 7 November 1993, scoring five goals in the game against Bahia.
Ronaldo scored 44 goals in 47 games with Cruzeiro, leading them to their first Copa do Brasil in 1993, and the Minas Gerais State Championship in 1994.Before joining Cruzeiro, he was turned down by his boyhood favourite team Flamengo, but Brazilian World Cup legend Jairzinho saw Ronaldo's potential and helped get him the move to Cruzeiro.
1994–1996: PSV Eindhoven
Ronaldo chose to join PSV after the 1994 World Cup, for he was selected despite being just 17, but did not play. It was Romário who advised Ronaldo to start his European career at PSV; Romário being a former striker of the team from 1988 to 1993. Ronaldo scored 30 league goals in his first season in the Netherlands. His second season was marred by a knee injury which kept him out of most of the campaign, but he still averaged nearly a goal a game in the league, scoring 12 goals in 13 appearances. With PSV, Ronaldo won the Dutch Cup in 1996 and he was Eredivisie top scorer in 1995. During his two seasons he scored 54 goals in 58 games.
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Ronaldo played his first match for Corinthians on 4 March 2009, a Copa do Brasil match against Itumbiara at Estádio Juscelino Kubitschek, in which he came as a substitute for Jorge Henrique.[33] Ronaldo scored his first goal for Corinthians on 8 March 2009 in a Campeonato Paulista match against Palmeiras.[34] He helped Corinthians win the Campeonato Paulista with 10 goals in 14 games.[35]
Ronaldo helped Corinthians defeat Internacional with an aggregate score of 4–2 to help the club win its third Brazil Cup (the second of his career), thus earning a spot in the Copa Libertadores 2010. He returned on 20 September in a match against Goiás. On 27 September 2009, he scored for Corinthians in the 1–1 draw against São Paulo FC. He finished the Brazilian Serie A 2009 with 12 goals in 20 matches. In February 2010, Ronaldo signed a contract extension with Corinthians that would keep him with the club until the end of 2011, and said he would then retire.[36]
In February 2011, after Corinthians were eliminated from the 2011 Copa Libertadores by the Colombian team Deportes Tolima, Ronaldo announced his retirement from football.[8][37][38] In an emotional press conference on 14 February 2011, he admitted his body had finally succumbed to the crippling litany of injuries that have blighted his career. "It's very hard to leave something that made me so happy. Mentally I wanted to continue but I have to acknowledge that I lost to my body," he stated