Original Ronaldo with world at his feet
Kid from Rio became Europe’s darling
Summer 1994 and just a few weeks after Brazil had won the World Cup in America, the youngest member of their squad is off to start a new life in europe. He is 17, he has joined PSV eindhoven, he is ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima. He is the original ronaldo.
Over the next 15 years, ronaldo will score his way into the history books and smile his toothy way into the sympathies of neutrals as well as the fans of Barcelona, Inter milan, real madrid, AC milan and, of course, Brazil.
ronaldo was to earn 98 caps, scoring 62 goals. He lost the 1998 World Cup final to France, then won the 2002 World Cup final against Germany — scoring both of Brazil’s goals in a 2-0 win. each final contained drama that centred on ronaldo. He became
‘O Fenomeno’ to his native rio de Janeiro. Here he was simply ronaldo. He won the Ballon d’Or twice — in 1997 and 2002 — and FIFA’s World Player of the Year three times — 1996, 1997 and 2002.
He was also the BBC’s Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 2002 and while in a career teeming with awards, that will hardly be the most prestigious, it gives an indication of ronaldo’s smiley popularity, especially as his glory days came in Spain and Italy.
First there was Holland and PSV. In the summer of 1994 the club, soon to be coached by Dick Advocaat, paid Cruzeiro $ 4.5million for their teenage striker. ronaldo was following a path to eindhoven beaten by his fellow rio phenomenon, romario. ROmArIO
played 167 games for PSV and scored 165 goals. That led to a transfer to Barcelona. But romario was 22 when he landed in eindhoven. ronaldo was a teenager who missed a trial at Flamengo because he could not afford the 20p bus fare.
Another story to illustrate ronaldo’s poverty was that he has two birthdays — 18th and 22nd September — as it took his father four days to get the money together for a birth certificate. That may explain why ronaldo’s mother named her son not after his father, but after the doctor who delivered him. Yet, within five years of missing the bus to Flamengo, ronaldo was at a World Cup and playing in europe. He had been at PSV one month when they were drawn to face Bayer Leverkusen in the first round of the ueFA Cup.
The first leg ended 5- 4 to Leverkusen with the 17-year- old just arrived from rio scoring a hat-trick for the visitors. PSV eindhoven knew then they had signed a special talent. In that era, the Dutch club was in the vanguard of global scouting and recruitment. Frank Arnesen was their young technical director, making a name for himself.
PSV made themselves a gateway club. Whereas today Neymar, for example, can go straight from Santos to Barcelona, ronaldo had to prove himself at PSV first.
The eindhoven club had their own agenda — making enough money from foreigners to compete with an Ajax side which, at the end of ronaldo’s first season in Holland, won the Champions League with nine Dutchmen.
ronaldo had scored 33 goals in 35 starts for PSV and was leading scorer in Holland. He displayed close control, blistering acceleration and cool finishing. At the end of that first season in europe, ronaldo joined up with Brazil and played against england at Wembley. Brazil won 3-1 and he scored the second. running at speed on to a pass from Juninho, ronaldo rounded Tim Flowers and slid the ball in calmly. At Wembley, Pele got to his feet to applaud. ronaldo was called the ‘new Pele’ then. Cristiano ronaldo was 10 years old.
Although ronaldo’s second season at PSV was not as successful due to injury and a growth spurt — he grew four centimetres and put on a stone — that Pele comparison was in the mind of Barcelona manager, Bobby robson. In the summer of 1996, ronaldo again followed romario, this time to the Nou Camp for £13.2m. For two weeks, it was the world-record transfer fee — then Alan Shearer joined Newcastle for £15m.
At Barcelona, ronaldo once again took flight. He was 19 turning 20 and, under robson, scored 47 goals in 49 games in his one season. robson adored him and said ronaldo had the potential to be ‘as good as Pele and I cannot go any higher than that’.
The original ronaldo. He was so young. He was some boy.