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It's not easy being Ronaldo

Superstar striker stuck at Inter Milan

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Posted: Thursday September 30, 1999 11:26 AM

A familiar-looking bald twentysomething grinned toothily at Milan's San Siro stadium Sunday night, watching intently as Inter pounded Parma, 5-1.

His new blonde girlfriend was by his side (his latest flame, Milene, bears an uncanny resemblance to his former, Suzana Werner, AKA Ronaldinha) and he seemed cheerful and relaxed.

Nobody knows what thoughts were crossing his mind, but Ronaldo, the most hyped soccer player since Diego Armando Maradona, would have done well to pause and reflect on his current state.

For Ronaldo's situation (plight is too strong a word for a guy whose total annual earnings approach US$20 million) is as complicated as it is unique.

On the one hand, he is blessed with an otherworldly combination of skills, the likes of which haven't been seen in years.

On the other, they are sometimes difficult to incorporate in a squad without upsetting delicate tactical balances.

He turns 23 years old this week and has already dominated at the highest level in Holland, Spain and Italy -- not to mention dazzled millions with the Brazilian national team.

But at the same time, in the past eighteen months he's been crippled by nagging injuries, from the mundane (the "fatigue" which is currently sidelining him) to the mysterious (to this day nobody has offered a convincing explanation for his bizarre disappearance-reappearance minutes before the France 98 final).

He is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, and with Michael Jordan now retired, only Tiger Woods is even in his league in terms of endorsement/sponsorship punch.

But the same sponsors who made him rich are also responsible for shackling him to Inter Milan, a club which perversely can't afford to sell him and which he probably could not afford to leave.

No longer an automatic choice as "The World Number One," Ronaldo is nearing a crossroads in his career. He needs to address the three issues mentioned above -- performance, physical health, and personal freedom -- because if he looks in his rear view mirror he can see the Rivaldos and Beckhams closing in on him.

When he burst onto the scene, his blend of speed, power, goal-scoring instinct and close control caught everyone off guard. Simply put, nobody was able to consistently do what he did: receive the ball at midfield, blow past one defender, steamroller another, hypnotize a third with a little shimmy and blast the ball into the back of the net.

"You either beat him to the ball or you're dead," one Serie A defender told me. "There's no point in running after him, because you won't catch him. Tackling him is useless too because he can out-dummy anyone. You can try kicking him, but that rarely works because he's built like Robocop."

The problem is that he can sometimes be a one-trick pony. Give him space on the break and he'll kill you.

But stick him into a crowded penalty box and he becomes human again. He doesn't pressure the defense, he doesn't play one-twos in traffic and he rarely comes back to support the midfield.

When he's not scoring, he adds little to the team beyond his intimidating presence.

And that can be a problem, because when he has an off-day, it's like playing with 10 men.

Despite being a star celebrity, Ronaldo has to focus again on returning to the play that has made him an international superstar. AP

Ronaldo has the skills and the intelligence to change his game, to become a more complete player. But if he does that, he risks losing some of his luster, some of that single-mindedness which made him the most devastating force in the game.

As for his health, there is no question that he takes a lot of punishment.

The fact that Brazil isn't likely to call him in for World Cup qualifying and that Inter is not involved in European competition will undoubtedly help.

But he needs to be given time, to be kept free from the pressures of meaningless friendlies and sponsor schmoozathons. In fact, the best thing that can happen is for Inter to do well without him, so that when he does play, he'll be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

His relationship with the sponsors is more difficult to resolve.

When he moved to Inter, he received numerous lengthy endorsement deals, most of which are linked to his remaining at the club.

Inter also receives a hefty annual cash injection from various sponsors, but only as long as it keeps Ronaldo.

It was meant to ensure that he could remain at the club for a long time without having to worry about moving elsewhere or passing up other commercial opportunities.

But it has become something of a gilded cage.

He simply cannot leave Inter. Even if the Milan club wanted to sell him, it couldn't because it would lose bagfulls of cash.

He may be worth US$50 million on the open market, but it still wouldn't make sense for Inter to let him go, because it would lose half that sum in endorsements.

Basically, he signed away his freedom, which is especially galling as reports keep circulating saying he wants to return to Brazil (Flamengo) or Spain (Barcelona).

It's not easy being Ronaldo. And it will not get any easier in the 10 or so years he has left in his career.

Extra time

Only three teams have won every single game this season in the world's major soccer leagues. One is Glasgow Rangers which comes as no surprise, since it's essentially a semi-European powerhouse stuck in a Mickey Mouse league. PSV Eindhoven is also off to a blistering start in Holland. The real shocker, however, is seeing tiny Rayo Vallecano sitting atop Spain's Primera Liga with four wins in four matches. Madrid's third team was just promoted to the top division this season and seemed to be cast-iron contenders for relegation. Fairy tale stuff or just a lucky break? Probably a combination of the two, but so far Rayo has shown the right mix of cynicism, grit and determination. It won't last, but the moment is worth savoring. To fans of a club like Rayo, leading the league even for a few weeks is akin to winning five consecutive titles.

Look out, the bull in the china shop is running wild. Those who balked at at Christian Vieri's US$30 million price tag (myself included) are being proved wrong. The world's most expensive player scored a gem of a goal (a finesse strike, no less) in Inter's 5-1 hammering of Parma over the weekend. He's Serie A's top scorer and is providing the kind of workrate and leadership that should ease some of the pressure on Ronaldo when he returns.

When Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich signed for Manchester United on a free transfer last summer, it seemed like a smart pickup. After all, Bosnich was rated as one of the top keepers in the Premiership and, at 27 years of age, seemed like the right guy to fill Peter Schmeichel's big shoes. But due to a combination of injury and miscommunication, he seems destined to ride the pine behind newly acquired Italian Massimo Taibi. United boss Alex Ferguson has reportedly told him he's overweight and lazy. Kind of makes you wonder why Ferguson didn't realize this three months ago, when he signed him. Why shell out so much dough for a guy you deem to be overweight and unfit to be your number one?

London-based Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com. To submit questions or comments to Gabriele Marcotti, click here.

 

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