Ronaldo, the gap-toothed Brazilian striker who once dominated world soccer with an astonishing blend of strength, speed and skill, announced Monday that he was retiring from the game at age 34. Worn down by knee injuries, fitness problems and nearly two decades as a professional, he tearfully confirmed his plans at a news conference in Sao Paulo. “I wanted to continue,” he said.
“But I can’t do it the way I want to. The head wants to go on, but the body can’t take it anymore.” In doing so, he acknowledged what had become clear to the fans who have jeered him lately: he is a shell of the player he once was. But oh what a player he was. A rugby wing with dancer’s feet, Ronaldo played and produced for some of the biggest clubs in Europe — for Bobby Robson’s Barcelona and Real Madrid’s Galacticos, for Inter Milan and A.C. Milan. Everywhere he went, his play brought fans to their feet.
He won two World Cups with Brazil, as a reserve in 1994 and as the star in 2002, and leaves the game with more World Cup goals than any player. But in recent years, Ronaldo had been beset by injuries and personal scandal. Fans jeered him as he slogged through matches for the Brazilian club Corinthians, perpetually heavy and seemingly out of shape after more than a decade at the top of the game.
On Monday, he said that a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, a problem that slows down the metabolism, had made it hard for him to stay fit and keep his weight down in recent years. “To control it,” he said, “ I was told I would have to take some hormones that are not permitted in football because of antidoping.” So instead he has called it quits. “I thought about it at home and realized that it was time,” he said. “I had given everything that I had.”
Read More http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/farewell-to-il-phenomeno-ronaldo-retires/
“But I can’t do it the way I want to. The head wants to go on, but the body can’t take it anymore.” In doing so, he acknowledged what had become clear to the fans who have jeered him lately: he is a shell of the player he once was. But oh what a player he was. A rugby wing with dancer’s feet, Ronaldo played and produced for some of the biggest clubs in Europe — for Bobby Robson’s Barcelona and Real Madrid’s Galacticos, for Inter Milan and A.C. Milan. Everywhere he went, his play brought fans to their feet.
He won two World Cups with Brazil, as a reserve in 1994 and as the star in 2002, and leaves the game with more World Cup goals than any player. But in recent years, Ronaldo had been beset by injuries and personal scandal. Fans jeered him as he slogged through matches for the Brazilian club Corinthians, perpetually heavy and seemingly out of shape after more than a decade at the top of the game.
On Monday, he said that a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, a problem that slows down the metabolism, had made it hard for him to stay fit and keep his weight down in recent years. “To control it,” he said, “ I was told I would have to take some hormones that are not permitted in football because of antidoping.” So instead he has called it quits. “I thought about it at home and realized that it was time,” he said. “I had given everything that I had.”
Read More http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/farewell-to-il-phenomeno-ronaldo-retires/
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