|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Ronaldo countdown begins Savor the return of Brazil's untainted folk hero
Updated: Wednesday April 25, 2001 12:11 PM
The countdown has begun. Ronaldo is back in training with Inter Milan, after having played a total of six competitive minutes since November 21, 1999. We all know what happened on his return to action a little more than a year ago. After just six minutes on the pitch, his knee buckled, his face contorted in pain and his body crashed to the ground. It was a crushing blow not just to him and his fans, but to anyone who loves the game. He refuses to set a timetable for his return, but it is imminent. "I don't know when exactly I'll be back," he says. "Two weeks, a month, two months, it does not really matter at this point. The only thing that matters is that I'll be back. Of this I am certain." Make no mistake about it, Ronaldo is, above all, a winner. Sometimes we lose sight of this, amidst the horrific injuries he suffered and the acrimony and suspicion surrounding the 1998 World Cup Final. But the sheer weight of the numbers, his goalscoring record and the trophies he has won, is simply staggering. When he played his last competitive 90-minute match, he was still just 22 years old and yet was already the fifth leading scorer in the history of the Brazilian national team, with 36 goals in 54 appearances. In case you're wondering, only one of the guys ahead of him has a better strike rate and his name happens to be Pele. He won two Copa Americas with Brazil, a Dutch Cup with PSV Eindhoven, a Spanish Cup and a Cup Winners' Cup with Barcelona, all this in just three seasons. In Holland, he scored 42 goals in 45 matches; at Barcelona his 34 goals were the second-highest total in the past 20 years. His time at Inter has been blighted by injury, but he still managed to score 42 times in 58 games. Among active Serie A players, only Andriy Shevchenko has a better goals-to-games ratio. Can he be this good again? His physiotherapist and close friend Nilton Petrone has no doubts. "Will Ronaldo be the same? No, he'll be even better!" he says. "He has the body of a 24 year old but the brains of 30 year old. The injuries have had a silver lining. He has grown, he has matured. Until he got hurt he had only known success. But often you learn more from defeat and failure than from victory." The unusual thing about Ronaldo is that he is a folk hero of epic proportions, a guy with virtually no enemies. Think about it. We in the media love to build people up and tear them down again.
But Ronaldo disappeared from our collective consciousness before anyone had time to sling mud at him. In the five years that he rampaged across the world stage, we came to know him not only as a phenomenal footballer, but also as a guy who never took a dive, never played dirty, never tarred his reputation by misbehaving off the pitch. All this while playing with a permanent grin on his face and never having a bad word for anyone, teammates and opponents alike. In a way, it would be nice to remember him like this: untainted, loved by all. But the reality is that sooner or later he too will be dragged through the mud. Either because he will make a mistake (he is, after all, human -- though sometimes you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise) or because people will simply want to tear down yet another idol. It happened to Pele, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Diego Maradona, and, sadly, it will probably happen to him as well. In the meantime, let's sit back and enjoy the return of one of the greatest footballer's of our time. Many of us grew up hearing stories of legendary players such as Pele, Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, George Best and others. Few of us ever got to see them play. Let us savor the fact that one day we will be able to tell our grandchildren that we saw a legend of our own, Ronaldo. Extra TimeOn a personal note, this will be my last column for CNNSI.com, at least for the foreseeable future. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and CNNSI.com for hosting my column. These past two years have been very interesting and instructive, particularly the dialogue I've had with many of you via the mailbag. Your feedback has often been invaluable. You pointed out my errors, brought up issues I had missed, savaged me when I made a mistake (most of you were civil, as for those who were not, don't worry, I'm a big boy...) and, occasionally massaged my ego as well. If you enjoyed my writing, feel free to look me up. I'll be around somewhere on the Internet and in various publications. Please continue to support this Web site and, of course, to follow the game we love, the beautiful game. And, if you want someone to talk soccer with, drop me a line: futakogroup@hotmail.com. Based in London, Gabriele Marcotti has written a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com since July 1999.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
