Brazilian icon Ronaldo has
confirmed in a tearful press
conference that he has scored
his last goal in a prolific and
storied career in football that
saw him become the top scorer in
the history of the World Cup.
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riddle
The former Barcelona, Real
Madrid, Inter and Milan star
announced on Sunday night that
he would be retiring at the age
of 34, and held a press
conference on Monday to explain
his decision.
"As you can imagine and you
heard during the whole weekend,
I'm here today to [confirm that]
I'm closing my career as a
professional player,'' Ronaldo said.
Earlier on Monday, Ronaldo visited
his team-mates at Corinthians'
training ground before calling a
press conference to confirm his
retirement to the global media.
"I thanked all the players, the
coach Tite, for all the minutes,
for every second I was with
them,'' added Ronaldo, who was
joined at the press conference by
sons Ronald and Alex. "It was a
very beautiful career, wonderful
and exciting.
"[There were] a lot of defeats
and a lot of victories. I made a lot
of friends, and I can't recall any
enemies. I'm ending my career due
to some very important reasons."
Ronaldo ends his 18-year career
in football having scored a total
of 326 goals in 466 games at club
level, as well as finishing with a
tally of 62 goals in 97 caps for
Brazil which is bettered only by
the legendary Pele.
However, while Pele won three
World Cups to Ronaldo's two - the
latter as a non-playing substitute
in 1994 and as the Golden Boot
winner in 2002 - even he cannot
match the record 15 goals scored
in the competition by the player
nicknamed O Fenomeno ('The
Phenomenon'). Ronaldo broke the
record set by Gerd Muller when
scoring in a victory over Ghana in
the second round of the 2006
finals.
Emerging from the Cruzeiro youth
system, the then-teenager
scored 41 times in 45 games for
the Brazilian club to attract
interest from Europe, and moved
to PSV Eindhoven in 1994. In the
Netherlands, goals continued to
flow as he scored 54 times in 58
games for the club.
His remarkable form in the
Eredivisie saw him win the first of
three FIFA World Player of the
Year awards in 1996, while he
also earned a move to Barcelona
when Bobby Robson brought him
to Camp Nou. In Catalunya, he
enjoyed arguably the greatest
season of the modern era when
scoring a club record 47 goals in
49 appearances.
That one year at Barcelona saw
him win the Copa del Rey and the
Cup Winners' Cup before joining
Inter in a world record £18
million move in 1997. He won the
UEFA Cup in his first season at
the San Siro but suffered
extensive injury problems in Italy,
only truly returning to form at
the 2002 World Cup where he
scored twice in the final to cast
aside the memory of the 1998
final in Paris, when he suffered a
fit prior to kick-off and was a
shadow of his normal self in a 3-0
loss to France.
Inter president Massimo Moratti
said on Monday: "Ronaldo was the
most powerful centre forward in
history. It was an honour to have
him at Inter at the pinnacle of his
career."
Ronaldo joined Real Madrid
following the 2002 tournament,
winning La Liga twice and
famously scoring a sensational
hat-trick against Manchester
United at Old Trafford in the
Champions League, before
spending further spells with Milan
and, in his home country,
Corinthians.
However, having struggled with
his weight in recent seasons, a
shock 2-0 defeat to Colombian
side Deportes Tolima in the
preliminary round of the Copa
Libertadores last week was met
with abuse by Corinthians fans,
some of whom dubbed him a
"shameless fatty".
Now Ronaldo has chosen to call
time on one of the great careers
of the modern age.
August 23, 2009, 11:09:56 AM