Ronaldo

kinaldo

Probably my favourite player ever. His hat-trick for Barca against Valencia in 96/97 to win 3-2 is his standout moment for me.

PHB

Is there any chance he could make a come back? I haven't seen any statements saying he is defo retiring, so I was wondering is there any chance?

Racing Flat

I imagine Kevin Keegan will break the bank and take a risk on him...if he's still there

Nunu

kinaldo wrote: »

Probably my favourite player ever. His hat-trick for Barca against Valencia in 96/97 to win 3-2 is his standout moment for me.

Incredible thing about that season was that despite scoring over 100 goals and amassing 90pts Barca could still only finish 2nd, a couple of pts adrift of Real Madrid!

PHB wrote: »

Is there any chance he could make a come back? I haven't seen any statements saying he is defo retiring, so I was wondering is there any chance?

Yes, there is a chance, but taking into account this is the third time he has got this injury(albeit the other 2 were on the left knee), he's 31 yrs, must be mentally destroyed after this and faces about a year recovery time i just can't see him making a comeback.
It would be a dream if he could comeback and have one more full rip roaring season...maybe culminating in a 2010 world Cup win?...that would be perfection and a proper send off for Ronaldo.

kryogen

he is without a doubt in my top 5 of best players to ever play and is in my own personal top 3 of players ive seen, i will be gutted if he doesnt come back from this, i have been defending him constantly for the past 8 months to those that call him the "fat ronaldo" and for years to the guys who said he was past it despite his unreal scoring record that he maintained everywhere he went..

i was there that night in OT when his hattrick took us apart, i was among the many many united fans who gave him a standing ovation when he was taken off the pitch, we knew we had witnessed true genius that night,

if anybody can come back from this it will be Ronaldo..

kinaldo

Nunu wrote: »

Incredible thing about that season was that despite scoring over 100 goals and amassing 90pts Barca could still only finish 2nd, a couple of pts adrift of Real Madrid!

Aye, the genius of Capello was just too much for Ronnie and Sir Bobby. It didn't even go to the last day, and it was only a couple of points in the end because Real took their foot off the pedal in the run-in when they were about 9 or 10 points clear.

Mr. Presentable

Some pics from last night

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/gallery/onehundredandfourtyone1.html

Raskolnikov

Great player, shame to see him retire, he could have been one of the all-time greats of the game.

ShoulderChip

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Great player, shame to see him retire, he could have been one of the all-time greats of the game.

Pietro Volpi, the Internazionale club doctor between 1995 and 2000, thinks the player could make a successful recovery. "It is a very serious injury, but it can be repaired and technology has made huge steps in recent times," he said. "A recovery will probably take between eight and 10 months, but I wouldn't be so pessimistic about Ronaldo's future. The real problem is that he is eight years older than he was in 2000 and that makes it harder to get to peak condition in sport."

godtabh

Was my favorite player growing up. Shame for it to turn out like this. He is only 31 (I think). He could still make a come back but as for playing for the top teams in Europe I think thats over

3 world player of the year awards in a row. Any one who says he is anything but a legend doesnt know football. A great player

kryogen

surgery has gone successful today in paris, he will be out of action for 9 months, but he is not over just yet, if he has the mental strength the docs reckon he could play again.......long road to recovery however and im not sure he has it in him to do it all again considering how many times he has been through this...

on the other hand, he wont want his career to finish like this and he is a mentally strong guy, really hope he makes it back

Sqaull20

eirebhoy wrote: »

Ronaldo vs Lazio in UEFA Cup final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5R7clxNfDI

Owned Nesta in that game.

So much talent it's unfair :mad:

Seaneh

was watching on 365. was so worried for the man, almost cried as a Milan and Phenom fan, really hope Milan will stand by him like the did with Redondo, he deserves it, best striker of all time and I was really looking forward to seeing him at full fitness for the rosseneri.

Sad day for world football if this is the end.

I'll pray for him.

Seaneh

my two fav. strikers ever.

Sheva and Ronaldo, was hoping they might end up playing together for El Rosseneri, probably won't happen now!

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Nunu

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/other/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/02/16/SOCCER_Ronaldo.html&TEAMHD=foreign

AC Milan are ready to offer Ronaldo a new deal despite his career-threatening injury, according to the Brazil striker's solicitor.

Ronaldo underwent surgery in Paris on Thursday after rupturing tendons in his left knee during Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Livorno and is expected to be sidelined for up to a year.

The 31-year-old's contract at the Rossoneri ends on June 30 but solicitor Fabiano Farah is confident Ronaldo will still be a Milan player when he comes back from injury.

"Everything makes us think that the club are interested in renewing his contract," Farah told Brazilian daily Terra.

"Vice-president (Adriano) Galliani has already expressed this desire.

"Ronaldo wants to return to playing, but his primary aim is to get better and have a good rehabilitation.

"He is the type of person that continues right to the end in his challenges, he has always won them.

"He is a born fighter and I am sure he is ready for this new battle."

These are the qualities that Eric Rolland, the surgeon who operated on Ronaldo, knows will be vital if the World Cup winner is to play professional football again.

"He will need a lot of energy to return to playing," Rolland told French daily Le Parisien.

"And his motivation will be the determining factor.

"The rehabilitation time will be very long because his injury involved a tendon and not a ligament.

"We have to give him back some solidity.

"We know at once therefore that Ronaldo will not be able to run for at least six months and that he will not be in reasonable condition to train before nine months."

If Milan let him go Flamengo are waiting in the wings: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3gnxAGGTDZVvbqr5kJZmNA9wvsw

Brazilian club side Flamengo are desperate to get their hands on Ronaldo should he make a full recovery from the knee injury he sustained on Wednesday that has curtailed his season according to Italian agency Ansa.

Flamengo tried to sign the former three-time world player of the year during the January transfer window before 'Il Fenomeno' opted to stay with European champions AC Milan.

But his contract is up at the end of the season and his ruptured knee tendon means he will not play again for nine months to a year, making it unlikely a new contract will be offered.

But Flamengo's vice-president Kleber Leite is still determined to bring Ronaldo back to the country of his birth.

"The dream of having Ronaldo with us is still alive and in the coming days we will put a proposal to him through his agent Fabiano Farah," Ansa quoted Leite as saying.

"We will present it to him in written form to show just how much we want him to play for us.

"We will wait for him to recover and in the meantime we will try to finalise our plan."

When Ronaldo injured his knee, which was subsequently operated on in Paris on Thursday, some feared he may never play again.

He is already 31 and suffered the same injury to his other knee back in 1999, which saw him spend the best part of 20 months out of the game.

However, this week he expressed his determination to come back, which has alerted Flamengo.

And finally allegations that Ronaldos injury problems are a result of Steroid use: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/186089,brazil-doctor-fired-after-accusing-psv-eindhoven-over-ronaldo-injury.html

Bernardo Santi was fired Friday by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) from his post as the CBF's anti-doping controls coordinator in Sao Paulo, after accusing PSV Eindhoven of having given Ronaldo anabolic steroids that provoked his injuries. In an interview that the daily Folha de Sao Paulo published Friday, the doctor had said that PSV Eindhoven - who signed Ronaldo in 1994, long before he turned 18 - included anabolic steroids in the striker's physical training programme. Ronaldo then developed muscles incompatible with his knee's bone structure, Santi said.

"The CBF considered inappropriate his comments on a player who is going through such a delicate time," CBF spokesman Rodrigo Paiva told Brazilian sports news website UOL Esporte.

In the interview, Santi had pointed directly at the Dutch club.

"I spoke to colleagues in Holland who know people at PSV. I did not get to talk to PSV doctors. They gave supplements to Ronaldo, who was very short, and among those supplements they included some anabolic substances which could make him grow a bit more," the doctor said.

Santi added that he was convinced that the process was responsible for the injuries that Ronaldo is facing.

"It is a consequence of having grown beyond what his muscles were prepared to grow," the doctor insisted.

He added that in Ronaldo's case the effects of anabolic steroids were particularly harmful because he took them when he was still a teenager.

"He gained muscle mass very fast, when he still had not reached maturity. The bill for the use of steroids shows up long term, 10, 15 or 20 years later," Santi noted.

Former Brazil star Socrates, now a sports medicine expert, said that Ronaldo's problems are a result of the "abuse" he suffered in his career.

"This was a pre-announced injury," the "Doctor" said.

Socrates did not explicitly mention the suspicion that anabolic steroids were used while Ronaldo was at PSV, but he criticized "the marketing exploitation that high-level sportsmen suffer in their careers."

"There is a difference between Ronaldo's muscle mass and the tendons on his knee. We have all seen Ronaldo grow too fast at the start of his career. That destroyed his knees forever," Socrates said.

Ronaldo, 31 and currently at AC Milan, underwent surgery Thursday in Paris to repair a complete tear of the rotula tendon on his left knee, and he is expected to remain off the pitch for at least nine months.

The striker already underwent surgery for a similar injury on his right knee in 2000.

Peyton Manning

Excellent news - hope we see him again. Milan, despite their off to field antics, are a classy club when it comes to human resource management.

Loomis

Looks good for a return. Would be brilliant as no one likes seeing a player retire because of something like this. Let alone a player of Ronaldo's ability
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11854_3399888,00.html

Injured Milan striker Ronaldo has vowed to return to action from his serious knee problem. The 31-year-old has ruled out retiring despite facing a lenghty spell on the sidelines after suffering a cruciate knee ligament problem in February.
Ronaldo is happy with the progress of his recovery and is confident he will be back in action sooner than first expected. "I can't yet imagine life without football," Ronaldo told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"During the first few weeks, I was destroyed, physically as well as morally.
"Then things began to progress and everything began to work. I can now move after so much time being like a vegetable.
"There's still a long way to go, maybe four months before starting to run, but the return will be quicker than the first time.
"During my last medical visit the doctors gave me all the hope and guarantees that I needed. Almost two months after the operation the left knee is much better than the right knee after my previous operation."
The three-time World Player of the Year has revealed he could link up with Flamengo to work on his fitness before returning to Milan.
"I have an excellent relationship with my team. But I have to be up to the task," added Ronaldo.
"The idea is to go for a few months to Brazil, why not Flamengo? And if all goes well I'll be a Rossonero once again."

eZe^

I know this is late, but whatever.

An absolute legend. Still banging them in....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gwYhuEvG60

Vintage stuff tbh.


Despite all his success, his career is such a tragedy because he should have been better than pele, one of the top 3 most naturally gifted footballers ever to live in my opinion.