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Ronaldo
He was born in the poor suburbs of the football Mecca Rio de Janeiro under the name Luis Nazario de Lima. Driven by his childhood hero Zico, the youngster enters football early in his life. By his 12th birthday he is playing in an organized youth club called Tennis Club Valqueire. With them, he played "futebol de salão" or small-sided football with a miniature ball. This is considered an important step in Ronaldo's development because playing with a smaller ball has been proven to rapidly increase foot skills. In the following few years, he takes part in various youth tournaments and begins attracting attention. Not much later, Cruzeiro di Belo Horizonte snatch up the youngster on a $50,000 transfer.
Young Luis Nazario gets his big break at the age of 17 when he is called up by Brazil's senior national team. He performs well and is selected for his country's World Cup squad. Because of his tender age, the young "Fenomeno" is kept as a substitute and watches the entire 1994 World Cup from the bench, as his team wins the gold.
Ronaldo's international appearances help him get noticed by European club PSV Eindhoven. With his new squad, he becomes top scorer of the Dutch league. With his growing popularity in Europe, Ronaldinho is quickly singed by Spanish giant FC Barcelona. With them, he gets global recognition by scoring numerous spectacular goals.
Moving to Italian Internazionale was the next step in his career. Rona's start in the Calcio was promising, but playing against the rough Italian defenders gradually took its toll.
The year 1998 was the start of a decline in Ronaldo's career. He led his national team to a World Cup Final, but failed to deliver in the decisive match. Ronaldo’s squad settled for silver as a wide range of speculations were made about Ronaldo's indifferent display.
By the end of 1998, Ronaldo is forced to leave the pitch after a knee injury picked up with his club. It haunted the Brazilian for a few years causing him to miss the entire 2000/01 season.
As he recovered, Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid decided to sign him. This change helped the prolific striker to resume his regular scoring. Rona also returned to the Brazilian national team, scoring two goals in the final and wining the World Cup at Korea and Japan in 2002. As a footballer, practically everything has been said about the Brazilian soccer player, because of his worldwide fame. Before his injury, Rona was a player of great speed with the ability of carrying the ball over large distances. This has changed now, as he has gained weight and lost his youthful pelt. That makes him somewhat more predictable but not in any means less dangerous.
In one-on-one confrontations, he can beat any defender on Earth. On air balls, the Brazilian soccer player is relatively mediocre. Ronaldo plays with the typical Brazilian flair because of which he is adored by many fans. In recent times, he has become more experienced and street wise. Rona rarely does his spectacular penetrating slaloms anymore, but he still remains a treat to watch and a menace to play against.
Despite his tremendous success over the past decade, Ronaldo never won the UEFA Champions League in his club career. On February 13, 2008, Ronaldo suffered a severe season-ending knee injury while jumping for a cross in Milan's 1-1 draw with A.S. Livorno Calcio, and was stretchered off and taken to a hospital. Milan confirmed after the match that Ronaldo had ruptured the kneecap ligament in his left knee. It marked the third such occurrence of this injury, which he suffered twice to his right knee in 1998 and 2000.
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