04/19/24
February 14, 2011
World's Second Best Ronaldo Retires : After a disappointing career featuring only two World Cups and three World Player of the Year awards, Ronaldo Luís Nazario de Lima has announced his retirement.
posted by Mr Bismarck to soccer at 03:08 PM - 9 comments
some Ronaldo goodness from youtube :
1 2 (Take a shot every time Ronaldo nutmegs someone)
62 goals in 97 games for Brazil, 247 goals in 343 club games.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:19 PM on February 14, 2011
He was just the striker the Brazilians needed - big, strong and skillful with a direct line to goal.
Never the same after the knee injury.
posted by owlhouse at 05:41 AM on February 15, 2011
The sad thing is you have to ask "which knee injury?"
He came back pretty well from the first two, considering how often his conditioning was derided, but the third really took his power away.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 07:31 AM on February 15, 2011
Watching that second video of Ronaldo is fascinating.
His micro-touches and quick direction changes are something I just don't see in anyone else I'm watching these days.
It really does look like the ball is on a string.
posted by grum@work at 08:37 AM on February 15, 2011
A good Slate article on Ronaldo from the Run of Play guys.
"Ronaldo isn't a quantifiable reserve of potential that was never efficiently tapped or a set of character traits that never reliably pumped out his natural talent. He's a person, the interface of whose personality with the world produced some breathtaking moments in a game."
muting sound suggested
"Beckham made the game feel like a spy movie; Zidane made it feel like a war. Ronaldo made it feel like joy."
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:52 PM on February 15, 2011
Greatest exploiter of space ever. He was like a burrowing animal at times, descending into a throng of defenders and impossibly emerging beyond them with the ball glued to his foot. Beautiful to watch.
posted by JJ at 05:06 AM on February 16, 2011
I really like that last video. On 8 of those 47 goals, he beats the keeper before taking the shot. Incredible!
posted by bender at 01:36 PM on February 16, 2011
Bobby Robson brought Ronaldo to Barcelona from PSV, and considered him the best player he'd ever worked with. Which is saying something.
I like the Slate piece, but it's really hard not to think about the if-onlys of his career. Personally, I've always wondered what might have happened if he and Robson had been given more than a season together, because the two of them seemed to have a shared joy at the game. (Mr B's clip illustrates it.) But the move to Italy was inevitable, given the league's status at the time, and Serie A defenders kicked him around the park.
posted by etagloh at 04:02 PM on February 16, 2011
As I said to a friend, "Ronaldo has retired. No, not the annoying one."
Have you noticed Cristiano? He's runs like a meth addicted pigeon.