Ronaldo: Next year will be the last of my career

Peyton Manning

Brazil's Ronaldo to retire next year

(AFP) – 1 hour ago

SAO PAULO — Double World Cup winner Ronaldo, who is now playing for Sao Paulo's Corinthians, said Monday he would retire from professional football at the end of next year.

The three-times world footballer of the year aged 33 told a media conference he would continue to represent Corinthians afterwards, but only as an "ambassador."

"I've renewed for another two years and they will be the last of my career. I want to give my all. I hope to have fun and end with some big wins," he said, according to the G1 news website.

The 1994 and 2002 World Cup winner did not hide his aspirations of being called up to play for Brazil in South Africa in this year's World Cup.
"We'll see. I still have a chance to go. For the next one (in Brazil in 2014), it's impossible. It's so far away and time is passing -- including for me."

A sad day for football when it comes. Ronaldo is my absolute hero, above all others. He's done enough to convince me he is the greatest player of all time, and had it not been for a string of horrible injuries, I dont think there would be any debate on it at all. I would absolutely love to see El Fenomeno play in one final World Cup in SA. He deserves it on merit, not just reputation. The memories of seeing him take teams apart in the 2002 World Cup are amongst my most cherished, not to mention the night he got applauded off the field at Old Trafford after terrorising us. What a man.

ctrl-alt-delete

Legend indeed, sad to see him hang up the boots. Hope he makes the World Cup too.

Gillington

I was hoping it was Cristiano

Ferris_Bueller

Will be a sad day when he retires, he's without doubt the best striker I've seen during my lifetime anyway and will always be regarded as one of the greats. Agree it would be amazing for him to get in one last World Cup which he undoubtedly deserves.

Jordonvito

he always retires early in fifa aswell.

Peyton Manning

Jordonvito wrote: »

he always retires early in fifa aswell.

Still banging them in for Toulouse in my game of Footie Manager. Gonna bring him back to Barcelona though, and set him up with a nice cushy job as coach as a personal thank you!

ko4jm6y9iwv2lc

Was lucky enough to see him play when Ireland played Brazil in the old Lansdowne Rd. He was an awesome player, shame he struggled so much with injuries.

Wasn't he caught banging Trannies?

Some player though.

HalloweenJack

One of my favourite strikers of all time. Even after his horrific injury at Inter, he came back and banged the goals in at Real.

His WC record is his most impressive stat. I know Gerd Muller got 14 in two WC's whereas Ronaldo got 15 in three but it's still a great record, especially considering he had to come back from that injury.

SlickRic

the first footballer i was properly in awe of.

should be considered one of the absolute greats, and you know what, i think he will be.

history will be fair to him in the end.

Kidchameleon

Legend, especially for the haircut he had in the 2002 final!!

How many times did he win copa america? did he ever win champions league? forgive my ignorance!!!

RandolphEsq

Gillington wrote: »

I was hoping it was Cristiano

If only because of how he will eclipse Fatty Ronaldo otherwise

jamsieboy86

My favourite player of all time, the main reason I started supporting Inter really. Such a shame he was blighted with injury.

Bodhisopha

rarnes1 wrote: »

Wasn't he caught banging Trannies?

Some player though.

He was asking for directions.

Greatest striker of all time in my opinion, despite being injured and fat/lazy for so much of his career. I'd say he will be missed, but he's missed already. Have barely seen him since he left Madrid.

Mr.Nice Guy

An outstanding player in his prime, one of the greatest of his era, but I think he's fairly overrated when compared with other legends.

I'm not knocking him as a player when I say that. I respect his accomplishments, but for me he wasted a lot of his talent and I think lacked the mental strength that others had.

I always preferred Romario over Ronaldo and still do.

kryogen

Easily my favorite striker of all time, best i have ever seen in the flesh and just my all round hero tbh

will be sad when the day does come, he definitely deserves to be at the World Cup finals, he has been in good form and is still capable of magic

Couldnt disagree more about him having low mental strength

all you have to do is look at how many times he came back from career ending injury to see the mental strength of the man

cant understand how anyone could think otherwise

for me injuries robbed him of becoming the greatest ever to play the game, everything came to him so naturally and even with all the injury problems he still scored goals every single club he went to

if he doesnt get a place on the plane i will be disappointed with Dunga

Jazzy

i agree with mr nice guy here. always preferred romario. still love ronaldo though, i think physically (at his prime) he was the perfect striker. one of the greats

m@cc@

Gillington wrote: »

I was hoping it was Cristiano

Why?

Frisbee

Peyton Manning

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'm not knocking him as a player when I say that. I respect his accomplishments, but for me he wasted a lot of his talent and I think lacked the mental strength that others had.

Yeah, coming back from 3 career threatening injuries to still perform highly on a consistent basis is clearly the sign of someone who wastes his talent and lacks mental strength.

Seriously, if you're gonna voice your opinion this thread, could you please not fabricate complete and utter sh*te in an attempt to form a fashionable opinion.

Crow71

What a legend!! Check out the burst of speed at 0.50 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2NHqSXftzU

Johner

Absolute beast!, best striker I've seen in my lifetime. Such a skillfull, pacy and powerful player. Love him! The real Ronaldo. R9.

8-10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLr9yEDlu0o

Love this goal. Not much was made of his Milan career but I watched this live and knew he still had it, great feet.

Johner

m@cc@

And of course, memories of the 1998 World Cup wouldn't be complete with mentioning...

Savman

Sad to hear...great striker, but one of the greatest ever? I dunno...

Bodhisopha

Savman wrote: »

Sad to hear...great striker, but one of the greatest ever? I dunno...

WHATTT!!!

:eek::eek::eek:

kryogen

Savman wrote: »

Sad to hear...great striker, but one of the greatest ever? I dunno...

i hope to God you are taking the piss now

GavRedKing

Absolute beast of player. You can doubt him personally but his goals record is amazing and if your judging a player on what he does in a position he plays, there is no better front man in the last 15 years on ability and the art of scoring golas look easy.

He could beat people with pace and power and with a flair and skill that brought him into the positions to get goals.

A truly sad day for the modern game that R9 is hanging uo the boots.

mormank

Look guys, I'm a massive Torres fan. Think the guy is amazing but lets be honest here, even he pales in comparison to ronnie in his prime! Absolute genius. Torn between himself and ronaldinho for the most naturally talented player of his generation but for me I think ronaldo just pips it. He was such a nexplosive player and definitely one of greatest strikers of all time imo..

Melion

How the hell can anyone say Ronaldo is/was over-rated?

Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1994 Cruzeiro 14 (12)
1994–1996 PSV 46 (42)
1996–1997 Barcelona 37 (34)
1997–2002 Inter 68 (49)
2002–2007 Real M 127 (83)
2007–2008 Milan 20 (9)
2009– Corinthians 20 (12)
National team
1994– Brazil 97 (62)

That is an absolutely phenomenal record for any striker. I really doubt any of us have seen a better striker in our lifetime and probably wont for a long long time. He was the perfect striker because he had no weaknesses(except his knees sadly).
As someone said, time will be good to him and we will all remember his goals instead of the 1998 WC final disaster or the ladyboy stories.

GavRedKing

Cant argue with that record ^

Johner

And that's only league goals and appearances.

Club totals,

484 appearances 340 goals

Overall total,

589 apperances 408 goals.

:eek:

Mr Alan

best ever imo.

Peyton Manning

This announcement has prompted me to make a Ronaldo tribute video, similar to ones Ive made for Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past. Only with Ronaldo, his highlights have been so stunning, that the video is running over 20 minutes long, and I wont be able to put it on youtube. I should have it online somewhere later today, so if anyones interested, give me a PM

Mr Alan

archi, when you making you're steven gerrard one?

Peyton Manning

Mr Alan wrote: »

archi, when you making you're steven gerrard one?

When my boredom reaches previously undiscovered depths, and then some...!

missingtime

this is dissapointing news. love this guy to bits.

him and a few other players are the reason i started to love the game.

D'Agger

I was fairly young for USA 94 so France 98 was what I will always consider my first proper World Cup...This man made it for me and I've worshipped him since. He has pace, strength, technical ability and above all the best finishing qualities I've ever seen. People can say what the want about Torres, Rooney, C.Ronaldo, Henry etc. - IMHO they may come close but they'll never eclipse him - the greatest striker I've ever seen.

I'm just praying he'll be able to properly say goodbye on the greatest stage in South Africa this summer.

JPA

Archimedez wrote: »

This announcement has prompted me to make a Ronaldo tribute video, similar to ones Ive made for Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past. Only with Ronaldo, his highlights have been so stunning, that the video is running over 20 minutes long, and I wont be able to put it on youtube. I should have it online somewhere later today, so if anyones interested, give me a PM

Just split it into segments, part 1, 2 etc.

Paul Tergat

Was at the OT game to see Ronaldo play amazingly. Just wow, what a player he was

Ferris_Bueller

Melion wrote: »

How the hell can anyone say Ronaldo is/was over-rated?

Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1994 Cruzeiro 14 (12)
1994–1996 PSV 46 (42)
1996–1997 Barcelona 37 (34)
1997–2002 Inter 68 (49)
2002–2007 Real M 127 (83)
2007–2008 Milan 20 (9)
2009– Corinthians 20 (12)
National team
1994– Brazil 97 (62)

That made me laugh, just because its one of them things you don't know how else to react to:eek:

Nalz

Mr Alan wrote: »

best ever imo.

Teddy Sheringham

Melion

How did i forget about the best striking performance ive ever seen. That night at Old Trafford was just incredible.

Peyton Manning

EDIT: Crap. Huge error in the video I just posted. Must fix it first before I repost.

parker kent

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

An outstanding player in his prime, one of the greatest of his era, but I think he's fairly overrated when compared with other legends.

I'm not knocking him as a player when I say that. I respect his accomplishments, but for me he wasted a lot of his talent and I think lacked the mental strength that others had.

I always preferred Romario over Ronaldo and still do.

Romario was one of the flakiest players I've ever seen. His career is the very definition of wasted talent. If he was not such a fool he would have been at Italia 90, France 98 and maybe even 2002 at a push. Plus he could have been in 1986 too (he was 20 and banging them in for Vasco de Gama). Look at his career history, he flounced from club to club once he left PSV. Despite it being a brilliant 46 games, his time at Barca was still only 46 games. Four Four Two had a good article on his time there last month.

So to pick Romario over Ronaldo because of wasted talent is a bit much really. Ronaldo wasted his talent because of injuries, Romario wasted it because he was a lazy, selfish idiot. Ronaldo had far more to his game too.

cooker3

Melion wrote: »

That night at Old Trafford was just incredible.

Absolutely. It really felt like he could just score when he felt like it. Probably the best single individual performance I have ever seen on a football pitch.

Peyton Manning

http://www.vimeo.com/9682658

Made this last night/this morning

dreamers75

Archimedez wrote: »

http://www.vimeo.com/9682658

Made this last night/this morning

excellent video (still watching its long)

1st thoughts: Music ****ing gay

http://www.ratm.com/

bombtrack and know your enemy should the choice of music

Peyton Manning

dreamers75 wrote: »

excellent video (still watching its long)

1st thoughts: Music ****ing gay

http://www.ratm.com/

bombtrack and know your enemy should the choice of music

The music is personal taste. You can always put it on mute and open up your iTunes

dreamers75

Archimedez wrote: »

The music is personal taste. You can always put it on mute and open up your iTunes

yah did that


are there

brazil goals later in it ????

i do enjoy a goals compilation video