Ronaldo calls it quits

AFTER a series of serious injuries, Brazilian football superstar Ronaldo has announced his retirement from football at the age of 34.  At a press conference in Brazil, the ex-Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and AC Milan striker was in tears, as he admitted to giving up the games he loves due to lack of consistent fitness.

The announcement came after his current club; Corinthians were knocked out of the Copa Libertadores last weekend.  He leaves the game as the most successful goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history and a winner of the prestigious World Player of the Year on three separate occasions.  Although recent years have seen a dramatic fall from grace and younger readers may not know Ronaldo that well, his talents at his peak were awe-inspiring.  On his own, he could beat teams’ hands-down and the 2002 World Cup finals in the Far East was a prime example of this.  Since he made his professional debut in 1993, the Brazilian has gone on to score over 400 goals and has the distinction of having represented both Milan clubs and Spanish sides Barcelona and Real Madrid.  Sadly, he never made it to apply his trade in the Premiership, but Serie A and La Liga saw a striker when at his best, destroy opponents and leave them dazzled.

Ronaldo first made his name with Cruziero in 1993, and after scoring 12 goals in just 14 appearances, was a shock inclusion in the Brazilian squad for the 1994 World Cup finals in the USA.  Although he got a winners medal, he never played in the tournament.  However, the experience he gained from going and learning from other deadly finishers Bebeto and Romario would turn out to be valuable.  After the finals, Romario advised Ronaldo to make the move into European football and his first destination was Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.  Despite the first of many knee injuries, Ronaldo was top scorer in his first season in the Eredevisie in 1995 and attracted the attention of both Barcelona and Inter Milan.

WINNER: Ronaldo scores the penalty that wins the 1997 Cup Winners Cup

He moved to Barcelona in 1996, tutored under the guidance of Sir Bobby Robson.  Ronaldo scored the winning penalty that beat PSG to win the 1997 European Cup Winners Cup for his new side, top scored in La Liga and won the FIFA World Player of the year award for the first time.  A year later, after contract negotiations stalled with Barca, Inter Milan forked out £19million for Ronaldo and it would turn out to be money well spent.  He scored 59 goals in 99 games for Inter, including netting in the 1998 UEFA Cup final.  However, 1998 was to be a dark year for Ronaldo personally, as form and injuries began to take its toll.

After scoring four times in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo suffered a series of dangerous epileptic fits in the lead-up to Brazil’s final showdown with France.  After some farcical confusion over the Brazilian team sheet, he played, but looked like he’d just rolled out of the bed hungover.  France won 3-0 and Ronaldo’s mysterious lack of performance was blamed for Brazil’s shambolic final.  Less than a year later, he ruptured a knee tendon playing for Inter in Serie A against Lecce and three more surgeries were required in the next three years.  He only just regained fitness in time for his glory hour, the 2002 World Cup.

TARGET: Ronaldo turned the 2002 World Cup into his own

Ronaldo saw the 2002 World Cup as the chance to seek redemption for the shambles of 98.  It was his tournament.  He scored eight goals, finding the net in every game except the quarter-final against England and scored both goals in the 2-0 final win over Germany in Yokohama.  Had it not been for Ronaldo’s goal scoring abilities, Brazil won’t have won their fifth trophy.  He won the World Player of the Year in 2002 and secured a world record transfer from Inter Milan to Real Madrid for £39million.

At Madrid, Ronaldo was loved and won the La Liga title in his first season at the Bernabeau.  He scored twice on his debut and scored one of the finest ever hat-tricks in football to knock Manchester United out of the UEFA Champions League in 2003.  Injuries hampered his form at Madrid, but an impressive 83 goals in 127 games is an incredible strike rate.  He fell out of favour with Fabio Capello due to her excessive weight issues and was sold to AC Milan in January 2007.  Before then, Ronaldo appeared in one more World Cup finals and although his body was starting to adapt to the constant injuries he picked up, Ronaldo broke Gerd Muller’s 32-year record and became the top scorer in FIFA World Cup history, when he got the opener in Brazil’s 3-0 last 16 win against Ghana.  He ended up scoring 15 goals at the World Cup, 62 for Brazil in total before retiring from international football after Brazil’s quarter-final exit, at the hands of arch-enemy France.

END GAME: His final club move was to play for Corinthians

Once again, injuries would ruin his experience at the San Siro.  Ronaldo only featured 20 times for AC Milan and eventually was released at the end of the 2007/08 campaign.  He returned to Brazil, to see out his career with Corinthians.  The team’s cup exit has bought this retirement decision forward.  In an interview with a Brazilian newspaper last October, Ronaldo had already decided to retire at the end of the Brazilian season, once his contract expired.

Although he never managed to win the UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo won pretty much everything else in his career and despite become a pale shadow of his previous in recent seasons, he was the greatest player in the world at the turn of the millennium.  His legacy on the game and for Brazilian football can never be forgotten.

World Cup Memories - Part 2

The countdown is getting ever closer to that first kick-off between the hosts and Mexico, which will open up the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.  For the first time, Africa will stage the world’s biggest show and over four weeks and sixty-four matches, we really will find out who is the best in the world. 

It also gives me the opportunity to lookback at some classic FIFA World Cup moments from down the years, a mixture of romance, drama, controversy, disgusting foul play, heartbreak and joy.  Every picture, every match tells its different type of story.  In this five-part series, I will be looking back at my top 50 FIFA World Cup memories, starting, ranging from 1958 to the most recent tournament in Germany four years ago.  Coming up is Part two, and in the no particular order.  Here are the next ten memories:

The Battle of ‘Santiago’ – 1962

On June 2^nd 1962, World Cup hosts Chile and Europeans Italy took part in the most violent and bruising match in FIFA World Cup history.  Chile won the game 2-0, but that was only half of the story, in a ridiculous match, full of shocking fouls and arrogant punch-ups that made it turn into a rugby brawl at Twickenham, not a football contest.  The catalyst for the trouble was the crude comments that two Italian journalists made about Santiago, the capital of the South American country.  They had to flee for safety when spotted in the country, and the game was soon no longer about football.  Within of 12 minutes, Giorgio Ferrini was sent off and had to be dragged off by the police, as the temperamental Italian refused to leave the pitch.  Later on, Mario David was punched by Chile’s Leonel Sanchez, but this incident was missed by referee Ken Aston.  Seconds later, David retaliated by kicking Sanchez in the head!  Quite rightly, he was dismissed.  Sanchez’s hard man attitude continued when he produced a boxing punch on Humberto Maschio, smashing up his nose and the police had to come on three more times, as the two teams lost total control of their discipline, spitting and scuffling with one another on frequent occasions.  This was the darkest moment in FIFA World Cup history, agreed with by the BBC’s David Coleman.  “This is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.    

French Fairytale Comes True – 1998

The 1998 FIFA World Cup final in France will be remembered for the saga of whether Brazil’s Ronaldo would play or not.  The world’s best footballer at the time was in the side, out of it, then in again, having suffered a series of epileptic fits in the build-up to the big kick-off in Paris.  Brazil’s preparation was thrown in chaos and they were no match for the hosts, despite Marcel Desailly’s red card in the second half.  Two goals from the mercurial Zinedine Zidane and a late effort from the consistent Emmanuel Petit saw France complete the fairytale on home soil.  For Brazil, it was a devastating way to lose their grip on the trophy and for Ronaldo, a damaged mark on what had so far been a blossoming career.

Gordon Banks Stunner Save – 1970

This was Brazil v England, the showdown between the best sides in the world.  In the heat of Mexico, this was always going to be a spectacle no-one could forget and the most iconic moment, was Gordon Banks fantastic save to somehow deny Pele a certain goal.  Pele met Gerson’s cross in the first half, with a powerful header that looked certain to burst the net.  Yet, Banks athleticism shone through in this epic counter.  He was beaten later by Jarzinho, as Brazil won the group match 1-0, in a game where sportsmanship was the true winner.

Schumacher’s Moment of Madness – 1982

The 1982 World Cup semi-final between France and West Germany was another picturesque memory, but this, for all the wrong reasons.  With the game tied at 1-1, through strikes from Pierre Littbarski and Michel Platini, French substitute Patrick Battiston charged clear in Seville, only to be taken clean out by the mad goalkeeper Harald Schumacher.  Schumacher had missed the ball in the 1-on-1 confrontation and smashed straight into Battiston, knocking him unconscious in the process. The game was stopped for seven minutes and amazingly, the Dutch referee only gave Germany a goal-kick.  Schumacher then saved two spot-kicks in the first ever penalty-shoot out in World Cup history, as West Germany advanced to the final, following a 3-3 draw.  However, the game will always be totally thought of for Schumacher’s moment of madness.   

Beckham’s Redemption – 2002

He had been vilified and crucified by the English press four years earlier, for that kick-out on Diego Simone in St. Etienne.  Four years on and David Beckham’s moment of redemption came in the closing stages of the first half in Sapporo.  Michael Owen, Argentina’s previous tormentor won a penalty, and Beckham kept his cool to smash the ball past Cavallero and give England their first win since 1966 over Argentina.  The emotion in his celebration said it all, as it laid to rest the ghosts of Mexico 86 and France 98 for the Three Lions army. 

North Korea Stun Italy – 1966

Ayresome Park may not be around anymore, but the former home of Middlesbrough FC played host to one of those best moments in football, when the underdog bites the favourite.  The unfancied North Korea stunned Italy, beating them 1-0 and consequently, qualifying for the quarter-finals at the Italians expense.  It was and still is one of the greatest upsets in the game’s history.  Ironically, North Korea is back at the World Cup in 2010, could they do the same to Brazil or Portugal in the group stages.

The Reggae Boys Party In France- 1998

Jamaica’s colourful atmosphere and presence was one of the distinct highlights of the 1998 World Cup finals.  Players such as Derby’s Deon Burton and Wimbledon’s Robbie Earle had the distinct privilege of playing top-quality opposition at football’s greatest showpiece.  Win, lose or draw, the Reggae Boys were determined to have an exceptional party and they didn’t disgrace themselves either.  They pushed Croatia all the way in their first Group H game, losing bravely 3-1.  Although Argentina dismantled the Jamaicans 5-0 in the next match, Theodore Witmore’s brace was enough to beat fellow debutants Japan and mean, they wouldn’t earn the wooden spoon.  The end-of-journey party was going to be a wild occasion. 

The Own Goal That Caused Death -1994

Distinct tragedy dogged the 1994 finals, when the Colombian defender Andres Escobar scored an unfortunate own goal against the USA in the South American’s second game of the tournament.  Having been up amongst the bookies favourites, a 3-1 loss in their opener to Romania wasn’t in the game plan and this cruel moment from Escobar set the pathway for the Americans to advance to the knock-out stage.  The goal put Colombia out of the tournament and a few days later, Escobar was shot dead by crazed gunman outside a petrol station in Medellin.  Sometimes, there is more to football than just a game….

Cambiasso’s Class -2006

Quite simply, one of the best ever team goals scored in the competition’s history.  Argentina’s second match of the 2006 World Cup saw them produce a stunning 24-pass move, which led to an unstoppable finish from Esteban Cambiasso against hopeless Europeans Serbia & Montenegro.  Argentina played some sumptuous football, on their way to a highly impressive 6-0 success.  I don’t need to explain anymore to this match, just watch this, this is special!

Denmark Meet Their Match, 1986

Denmark had been one of the stars of the early stages in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.  They cruised through Group E with a 100 per cent record, including a 6-1 battering of Uruguay (see video for stunning Michael Laudrup individual moment) and an impressive 2-0 success over the bookies favourites, West Germany.  They were expected to overturn an ageing Spanish side in the last sixteen, and when Jesper Olsen converted an early penalty, were well on the way.  However, a spectacular collapse followed, as Real Madrid’s Butragueno bagged four goals and the dark horses met their match.  A 5-1 loss was the final outcome, as one of the dark horses made their exit in one of the most undignified manners ever seen.

PART 3 next week

For PART 1, visit http://happydude88.blogspot.com/2010/04/world-cup-memories-part-1.html