”O Fenômeno” and his soccer years in Brazil until 1994
Best soccer player of all time? He is, without a doubt, according to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rivaldo, Karim Benzema, and Alexis Sanchez, Inter Milan’s former owner Massimo Moratti, the special one Jose Mourinho and many others. The GOAT pick may be a very personal preference, but objectively speaking there is only a close group of players who seemed to be out of this world already halfway the second decade of their lives: Maradona, Pelé, Freddy Adu and Ronaldo, the ‘’phenomenon’’, the ultimate No. 9. His nickname came out just after he had already turned 20 in 1996 around the beginning of his only season with Barcelona.
Childhood
Ronaldo saw the light of the world twenty years earlier, on September 18, 1976 in Itaguaí of the Rio de Janeiro State. Soccer seized Ronaldo at a very young age. His talent was obvious from the early years of his life playing the game barefoot on the impoverished outskirts of Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s. The youngest of Nelio Nazario de Lima and Sonia Barata’s three children, Ronaldo grew up without his father after 1987 when his parents decided to separate. It was a shocking development for an 11-year-old boy. But, soccer took up all his time and occupied his mind as he skipped most of his classes at school much to the irritation of his mother Sonia dos Santos, who was vehemently opposed to her son’s footballing ambitions. Eventually, she gave her consent and he quit school altogether after the seventh grade at 12, to focus on the sport.
Ronaldo stood out among the other boys on their matches on the streets of the Bento Ribeiro suburb. And from the streets he would be found in indoor hardcourt arenas to play six-a-side soccer.
Futsal soccer before the pitch
His first futsal team was Valqueire Tenis Clube, a local side with red and black colours, located in the Vila Valqueire neighborhood. Ronaldo showed his goalscoring talent there and a move to a bigger futsal club came in 1990. He joined the Social Ramos athletic club’s indoor soccer team, which even paid him a small stipend for lunch, bus fare and his first ever soccer shoes.
Ronaldo impressed coach Alirio Carvalho, straight away. He led the local youth league in scoring and in one game, he scored 11 of his team’s 12 goals! In his first season with the club, he took the local league by storm, scoring a record 166 goals.
Indoor soccer was great for him, but his ambitions, and dreams were much bigger: he always wanted to play for Flamengo, the club he supported all his life, and become a famous player. You see, he used the watch the famed Rio de Janeiro downtown club in the early and mid-1980s and look up to Zico, his greatest idol.
Zico’s last official match for Flamengo was in December 1989 against rivals Fluminense, where he scored the first goal in a 5-0 win. Two months later, he played his last match ever as a Flamengo player in a friendly against a World Cup Masters team. And it was about then when Ronaldo tried out for the Flamengo junior team at the age of 13 and a half. He wore the Flamengo’s red and black jerseys for the first time in his life and he did play well enough to be invited back. His dream had just started to come true.
However, things wouldn’t turn out his way. He missed the next day’s practice as he could not afford the fare for the hour-long bus ride. Ronaldo was devastated by the missed opportunity with ‘’Fla’’, the club he really loved. His dream of playing for his favorite club, the one with the most domestic supporters all over the world, was just crumbled down. Maybe it was for the best as sometimes a boy’s talent shows better in less competitive squads.
Ronaldo’s first youth team: Sao Cristovao
Ronaldo was determined to leave indoor soccer behind and play on a pitch. He was almost 14 and his only experienced of organised, 11-a-side soccer was his only practice match at the Flamengo academy. After he failed to join Flamengo’s junior team he was spotted by legendary Jairzinho, Pele’s teammate in the Brazilian team, who was coaching a struggling suburban Rio de Janeiro club called Sao Cristovao. Soon, Ronaldo joined Sao Cristovao’s youth section alongside his friend and Social Ramos Clube teammate, Alexandre Calango.
Situated in the north of the city, Sao Cristovao’s small ground sat just a 20-minute walk from the iconic Maracana, the venue Ronaldo was dreaming to play at. Sao Cristovao’s first team were playing in the top flight of the Carioca state league, but they were not giants of the Rio football scene by any stretch. By any means it was better than today that the team play in the Carioca Serie B1, the state’s third division. Importantly, though, the club’s facilities were situated relatively close to Ronaldo’s family home in the working-class Rio suburb of Bento Ribeiro, and Sao Cristovao’s coaches and directors were ready to give him the support he needed. Sao Cristovao was just the right place for talented Ronaldo as he could demonstrate his skills honed on the streets while skipping school.
Sao Cristovao was like a family for Ronado. Ary de Sa, one of the club’s directors, who previously struck the deal with Clube Social Ramos to give some of their futsal players a chance to play on grass, provided a little financial assistance to Ronaldo and his family. He would do the same with other young Sao Cristovao players from less well-off families.
Ronaldo stood out in his squad immediately. Soon after he arrived at Sao Cristovao he scored five goals for the Under-15 team in a 9-1 victory in a friendly tournament. The U-17 coach, Alfredo Sampaio, was there watching the game and Ronaldo caught his eye due his fast movement, and scoring prowess. That one game was enough for Ronaldo’s rise to begin. He would soon get promoted to the Under-17 team, at the age of 14.
Ronaldo’s youth-team strike partner Clayton Grilo remembers that they both dreamed of playing against each other as professionals: Clayton for Fluminense and Ronaldo for Flamengo. The ‘’phenomenon’’ would even try to avoid matches against his favourite club during the youth league! That was how passionate was about ‘’Fla’’.
He scored a lot of youth goals, but he never celebrated. Scoring was so normal for him. But, Ronaldo was poor with the ball in the air – a deficiency he never corrected. According to coach Sampaio he didn’t like it and never tried to improve. Still, Ronaldo’s devastating pace, dribbling ability and unerring finishing made up for his only weak part.
When the youth team did cardio training, Ronaldo didn’t like to run at all and he would come with all excuses. But when it came to the game, he would transform to a beast. Soon, more people were starting to notice Ronaldo’s promising talent. And Brazilian agents Reinaldo Pitta and Alexandre Martins went to see him in action after hearing his coach, Alfredo Sampaio, rave about his abilities: he was a rare combination of speed, strength and finely honed soccer skills. They were convinced immediately and purchased the player’s rights for $7,500 from Sao Cristovao, which would turn out as one of the better investments in Brazilian sports history.
Soon after, team scouts started to sit up and take note of a boy who was making waves against some of the nation’s strongest sides at youth level despite playing for a relative minnow. Alfredo Sampaio was Ronaldo’s mentor undoubtedly. Coach Sampaio soon took over the Sao Cristovao’s U-20 team and he called up Ronaldo despite being 15-16 years old.
In the summer of 1992, Jairzinho, the 1970 World Cup hero and Cruzeiro legend and Cruzeiro’s former player, recommended Ronaldo to a friend of his, a wealthy businessman who was based in Brazil and had just bought an ambitious third-division Greek team who were chasing promotion. Ronaldo’s price tag had gone up to US$25,000. The owner of Kalamata FC was fine with the fee as he was willing to spend big for the club and take it to the country’s top flight in no time. However, the club’s manager, Juan Ramón Rocha, a former Argentinian international was happy with 25-year-old Congolese striker Mukadi Tshimanga to take up the one spot allowed for foreign players to register in the league and no trial was arranged. But, would Ronaldo who was dying to play for Flamengo, agree to play for a low division club in Europe?
Lower divisions are always tougher and cruel for young talented players, but he would be the main star at 16 and not the guy who comes from the bench. Up to then, Ronaldo had never played senior soccer, and he was eager for it, but also most of clubs would hesitate to trust a very young foreigner who had only played on youth level.
Sampaio had already taken over as Sao Cristovao’s first team’s coach replacing Jairizinho. And in January 1993, Ronaldo, aged 16, made another step up alongside Sampaio joining the first team who were still playing in the Rio de Janeiro state’s top league against powerhouses Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama. Ronaldo had followed coach Sampaio’s exact path from the U-15 team all along and a big transfer was on its way.
The 1993 U-17 South American championship in Colombia
It was not meant for Ronaldo to feature for Sao Cristovao’s first team. Before he could play for Sao Cristovao’s senior side, 16-year-old Ronaldo was selected as a member of the Brazil Under-17 squad that travelled to Colombia for the 1993 South American championships. The tournament was a disaster for Brazil as they finished fourth and failed to qualify for an Under-17 World Cup for the first time in Brazil’s history. But, Ronaldo’s performances stood out.
In the first game, his hat-trick gave Brazil a 3-2 victory over Chile. Three more Ronaldo-inspired wins followed against Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia and Brazil progressed to the second stage – a four-team group that would decide the three nations to qualify for the Under-17 World Cup. There, Brazil lost 2-1 to Argentina before struggling to 2-2 draws with both Chile and Colombia. Brazil finished bottom of the group and the other three teams went to the World Cup later that year. But, Ronaldo had barged his way through opposition defences, scoring a total of eight goals in the tournament. Soon after, offers from senior sides would come in.
Those performances in Colombia had established Ronaldo as the next big thing of Brazilian football despite he was yet to play first team soccer with Sao Cristovao. With that tournament fresh in the memories of scouts, Ronaldo’s price had risen, just like the interest of big clubs. Rio de Janeiro side Botafogo was keen to sign him after coach Paulo Emilio gave the green light, and the club offered agents Pitta and Martins 50% of a future transfer fee in return for Ronaldo’s signature. Pitta and Martins rejected the offer. Sao Paulo who had just won the 1992 1992 Intercontinental Cup under coach Tele Santana also offered US$15,000 – less than the US$25,000 the young agents were requesting prior to Ronaldo’s barnstorming displays with the Brazil U-17 team. Then, following Jarzinho’s recommendation Cruzeiro came and acted quickly. It was not his beloved Flamengo, but it was a preferable option for young Ronaldo.
Agent Leo Rabelo who was prestigious in the eyes of Brazilian clubs, intermediated with Cruzeiro, and he opened the door for Ronaldo and his two agents. After negotiations with Cruzeiro’s president Cesar Masci, Pitta and Martins finally received US$50,000, a significant return on their US$7,500 investment. It was the first soap-opera drama of Ronaldo’s career. The first of several. Ronaldo became a Cruzeiro player and left Rio de Janeiro for the first time in his life, at 17. He made the journey 400km north to Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, finally getting a shot with one of the nation’s biggest clubs.
The Minas Gerais youth league
Even after his transfer, senior soccer was surprisingly yet to come for Ronaldo. Almost 17, Ronaldo was not put straight into the first team when he arrived. Instead, he trained and played with the U-20 team. He stood out again, of course, scoring four goals on his youth-team debut.
At that point, he was an extremely talented prospect, in a country that has produced millions. There were even arguments in Belo Horizonte bars about whether Cruzeiro or their local fierce rivals Atletico Mineiro had the better up-and-coming centre-forward. Atletico’s great hope was 17-year old Reinaldo who was playing for Atletico’s youth squad. During the youth league Ronaldo and Reinaldo battled it out in the local U-20 derbies as they also did for the No. 9 shirt in the Brazil U-17 side. And it was normally Ronaldo who would get picked to play alongside Caio Ribeiro. Despite their spells in Serie A, none of Caio Riveiro or Reinaldo had the career that Ronaldo enjoyed later.
Ronaldo played in the Minas Gerais U-20 championship for almost three months after signing for Cruzeiro and he was the league’s top scorer when he was called up to the senior team by coach Pinheiro. Ronaldo’s finally had his long-awaited first-team debut on 25 May 1993 against Caldense in the Minas Gerais State Championship. Coach Pinheiro gave him the shirt with the No. 10 and a starting place in the lineup alongside Nivaldo and Ramon Menezes up front as main striker Roberto Gaucho wasn’t available. But, he didn’t do well against Russo, Renê and Caldence’s other defenders in a game that ended with a 1-0 away win for Cruzeiro in front of 2,884 spectators. Ronaldo would return to Cruzeiro’s youth team immediately. After a few more games with their youth team Reinaldo and Ronaldo both had together another tournament with the Brazil U-17 team in the United States in the summer of 1993, a test event for the World Cup the following year.
After leading Cruzeiro to Brazilian Cup glory on June 3, 1993, Pinheiro was sacked. Edoardo Amorim and then Ze Mauricio took over for two games. In the end of July 1993, coach Carlos Alberto Silva signed with Cruzeiro and in his first game in charge he trusted Ronaldo and used him as a sub replacing Toto in the 77th minute of the derby against rivals Atletico Mineiro, the last game of the season. It was Ronaldo’s first match in front of Cruzeiro’s crowd at the Estádio Mineirão on July 28, 1993.
Two goalless matches for young Ronaldo in the 1993 Minas Gerais State Championship followed. Both Ronaldo and his rival Reinaldo who were starring in the youth league, were struggling to shine in the first-team championship. But things would get better for Ronaldo under new coach Carlos Alberto Silva.
The 1993 tour of Portugal
Ronaldo travelled to Portugal with the first team, who had recently won the Copa do Brasil. Cruzeiro’s first game was against Benfica (1-1) on August 3, 1993 and Ronaldo replaced Toto in the second half playing 45 minutes. Cruzeiro played four friendlies in total, against Benfica, Belenenses, Penarol Montevideo and Porto. And Ronaldo played in all of them and started in three. Carlos Alberto Silva seemed to count a lot on the youngster giving him the shirt with the No. 9. On August 5, 1993, Ronaldo scored his first goal in senior soccer, against Belenenses and – ironically- with his head! A second followed against Uruguayan Penarol Montevideo who were also touring Portugal. Cruzeiro’s last game in Europe was against Porto where he played his first full game, but without scoring.
| Date | Opponent | Shirt number | Minutes | Goals |
| August 3, 1993 | Benfica (1-1) | sub | 45 | 0 |
| August 5, 1993 | Belenenses (2-0) | 9 | 38 | 1 |
| August 6, 1993 | Peñarol (3-0) | 9 | 41 | 1 |
| August 8, 1993 | Porto (1-3) | 9 | 90 | 0 |
Porto’s Yugoslav manager Tomislav Ivic was so impressed with him that the club immediately offered Cruzeiro president Cesar Masci US$500,000: ten times what Cruzeiro had paid a few months prior. Masci demanded US$750,000 and Porto’s president Pinto da Costa withdrew his offer.
His breakthrough in Super Copa Libertadores
Ronaldo returned with the Cruzeiro squad to Brazil more confident. On September 18, 1993 he scored his first senior goal in Brazil: it was against the national champions, his beloved Flamengo! What an unbelieveable turn of events that led Ronaldo from being rejected by the academy of his favorite team, to score his first official goal against them! He then netted twice against Botafogo, and managed eight in the prestigious Supercopa Libertadores where the best South American teams were playing.
In the round of 16, Cruzeiro beat Chilean league leaders Colo-Colo 9-4 on aggregate, with Ronaldo scoring five goals in total. On October 5, 1993 he became the youngest hat-trick scorer ever in an international club game, at the age of 17 (Cruzeiro vs Colo-Colo 6-1) and also scored twice more against the Chileans in the second leg in Santiago. He had already become a wonderkid reminding of Pele. His goalscoring spree did not stop there. He scored once against Nacional of Uruguay at home in a first leg 2-1 loss in the quarterfinals. Cruzeiro fought back in the second leg taking a 2-0 lead before Nacional levelled and seemed set for the semifinals. But, Ronaldo showed up again: with a last-minute winner the game went to penalties. Cruzeiro were eliminated at the end, but Ronaldo had already done enough to become the competition’s topscorer at just the age of 17!
| Date | Round | Opponent | Shirt number | Minutes | Goals |
| October 5, 1993 | 16 | Colo-Colo (6-1, H) | 10 | 90 | 3 |
| October 5, 1993 | 16 | Colo-Colo (3-3, A) | 9 | 90 | 2 |
| October 20, 1993 | QF | Nacional (1-2, H) | 10 | 90 | 1 |
| October 28, 1993 | QF | Nacional (3-2, A) | 9 | 90 | 2 |
Ronaldo’s only Brasileirao season
On November 7, 1993 Ronaldo scored five goals in a home league game against Bahia (6-1), a game that was replayed on television for the whole of Brazil to watch. That was when he started to grab the attention of the nation and his performance resulted in his first senior Brazil call up – though not a first cap.
Cruzeiro’s president Cesar Masci gave Ronaldo a red VW Gol as a part of an improved contract. Ronaldo wasn’t 18 yet – not old enough to have a driving licence- but he would drive to go to training and out in the city. It was one of the perks of his early success and an important motive to make him sign his new contract with Cruzeiro despite having offers from other clubs.
After the summer tour in Portugal and onwards, Ronaldo (or Ronaldinho as they used to call him) featured 14 times in the Brasileirao and scored a total of 12 goals. However, his team lost out in qualification to the final round (the championship was split in four groups) and the team that went through instead, was Flamengo! It was one of the most interesting competitions in Brazil’s history with Palmeiras winning the finals over Vitoria. 17-year-old Ronaldo finished as the league’s third topscorer behind Santos’ forward Guga who scored 14 goals in around 20 games. ”O Fenomeno” managed to score one more than Rivaldo (Corinthians) or Edmundo (Palmeiras) who also played more matches than him as their teams progressed to the final stage.
Japan tour and Campeonato Mineirao
1994 came. Nelinho had replaced Carlos Albero Silva who was the coach that had trusted Ronaldo the most. Cruzeiro were getting ready for the new season in Brazil. On February 9, 1994, Cruzeiro faced Yomiuri Verdy during a mini tour in Japan. The game ended 1-1 with Ronaldo starting, but not scoring. Two days later, Cruzeiro met with Hans Ooft’s Jubilo Iwata in Tokyo and Ronaldo pulled out his guns once again: a 3-1 victory courtesy of a hat-trick by the wonderkid. Eight years he would return to Japan to carry Brazil to the World Cup trophy against Germany.
| Date | Opponent | Shirt number | Minutes | Goals |
| February 9, 1994 | Yomiuri Verdy (1-1) | 9 | 90 | 0 |
| February 11, 1994 | Jubilo Iwata (2-1) | 9 | 90 | 2 |
Ronaldo scored a total of 32 goals in 27 games at Cruzeiro’s home stadium, the Mineirao. In early March 1994, Ronaldinho scored all three of his team’s goals in a 3-1 derby win over Atletico in front of almost 70,000 people under pouring rain. One his goals was a skill that took him past Uruguayan centre-back Fernando Kanapkis and left him on the ground. After his goal, the Cruzeiro fans gave the 17-year-old a three-minute standing ovation.
Cruzeiro having won the Copa do Brazil of the previous years were entitled to participate in the 1994 Copa Libertadores against South American champions. On March 2, 1994, Ronaldo played in South America’s most prestigious international competition against Palmeiras at the Palestra Italia. Cruzeiro lost 2-0 to Palmeiras who had a dream team: Rincon, Roberto Carlos, Zinho, Mazinho, César Sampaio, Edilson and others. A week later, he scored against Vélez Sarsfield’s legandary goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert, opening the score in the first minute of the game.
During a game against Boca Juniors at the Bombonera (16/03/94) that Cruzeiro came out winners (2-1), Ronaldo had been kicked and fouled badly, but he was about to take his revenge at the Estadio Mineirao on April 6, 1994. The score was at 1-1 in the second half, and Ronaldinho surged through two defenders, dribbled past another, rounded the goalkeeper and tapped the ball into the unguarded net to win the game (2-1).
| Date | Round | Opponent | Shirt number | Minutes | Goals |
| March 2, 1994 | Group stage | Palmeiras (0-2, A) | 9 | 90 | 0 |
| March 9, 1994 | Group stage | Vélez Sarsfield (1-1, H) | 10 | 90 | 1 |
| March 16, 1994 | Group stage | Boca Juniors (2-1, A) | 9 | 90 | 0 |
| March 25, 1994 | Group stage | Palmeiras (2-1, H) | 10 | 78 | 0 |
| March 31, 1994 | Group stage | Vélez Sarsfield (0-2, A) | 10 | 90 | 0 |
| April 6, 1994 | Group stage | Boca Juniors (2-1, H) | 9 | 90 | 1 |
| April 21, 1994 | 16 | Unión Española (0-1, A) | 10 | 90 | 0 |
| April 28, 1994 | 16 | Unión Española (0-0, H) | 9 | 90 | 0 |
Teammate to Romario, Bebeto and Dunga!
The USA World Cup was round the corner. The calls for Ronaldo to be handed a national team debut reached deafening levels and Carlos Alberto Parreira included him in the squad for a friendly with Argentina at the wild, vast, crumbling Arruda stadium in the north-eastern Brazilian city of Recife. Ronaldo only got 10 minutes at the end after one of his childhood heroes Bebeto had given Brazil a 2-0 lead in the first half as Diego Maradona, who was trying to get in shape for the World Cup, watched from the bench. But 17-year-old Ronaldo’s appearance in front of 100,000 fans was the hope that the Brazilian nation needed as Brazil had not won the World Cup since 1970.
Six weeks after that debut, Ronaldo was called up again for a friendly with Iceland in the southern Brazilian city of Florianopolis. The game was on May 3, 1994, exactly six weeks before the World Cup kicked off in Chicago.
Romario and Bebeto were already guaranteed as the starting attacking duo in the USA, but Parreira was unsure of who else to take and against Iceland. Parreira finally put Ronaldo in from the start, playing with the No.7 on his back alongside Corinthians forward Viola. Thirty minutes into the game, a loose ball dropped on the edge of the area and Ronaldo was there. He hit it first time with his left foot and, after taking a slight deflection off an Icelandic defender, it nestled into the bottom corner of the goal.
Ronaldo returned to Cruzeiro, scored two in the following two games and with it he secured his first title as a player – the 1994 Campeonato Mineiro. Unsurprisingly, he picked up another top-scorer award to go with his medal, having hit 22 in 18 games. The 1994 Brasileirao would start after the World Cup which saw Ronaldo not only part of Brazil’s squad, but also a World champion.
Copying Romario’s journey in Europe
Ronaldinho did have offers from Portugal, Italy and Germany, but he preferred to sign for PSV Eindhoven and follow Romario’s path in Europe. Cruzeiro received US$6million, 120 times what they had paid Pitta and Martins just over a year prior. Maybe one of the club’s mistakes in the negotiations was not to ask for percentage of a future transfer fee.
Before he departed for the Netherlands, Ronaldo had an inevitable parting gift. In his last game for Cruzeiro, a friendly against Botafogo – one of the clubs who had turned him down not long before- Ronaldo dribbled around the goalkeeper to score and earn his team a 1-1 draw. Counting friendlies and competitive games, that was his 56th goal in 58 games for the club in a little over a year. He had featured in two Minas Gerais State championships (1993, 1994), the 1993 Brasileirao, the 1993 Super Copa Libertadores, tours in Portugal and Japan, the 1994 Copa Libertadores, the youth Minas Gerais championship and various friendlies while he had the chance to face giants like Boca Juniors, Colo-Colo, Benfica, Nacional and Peñarol Montevideo, and Porto. He missed 1994 Copa Denner with Cruzeiro as he was with the national team in the USA.
During the 1996 Olympics, PSV sold Ronaldo to Barcelona for $20 million. The Catalans were his preferred choice as teammate Romario had moved there after playing for PSV Eindhoven. Ronaldo was sure for the success of that choice, just like Romario did. He scored 49 times in 51 games for Barcelona, including that crazy goal against Compostela. Comparisons to Pelé had already started.
In June 1997, Inter Milan paid him a reported $14 million signing bonus and paid Barcelona another $28 million in transfer fees. Ronaldo adjusted quickly to the challenge of playing in the tough Italian Serie A, considered by many to be the world’s toughest professional league: known for crushing defenses and low-scoring matches. He led Inter in scoring with 34 goals, including 25 in the 1997-98 Serie A. In the summer of 1998 there were rumours that the club he always supported, Flamengo, would come with a masive offer to sign him, after president Kléber Leite struck a deal with a consortium bank. Of course, Massimo Moratti, Inter Milan’s owner would not give up on him that easily.
Ronaldo’s impact on the game was so immense that Nike signed him to a 10-year contract that paid him a reported $1.5 million annually. And after his signature with Inter Milan, Nike made an 11-year deal with the Italian club, worth a reported $242 million.
The rest for Ronaldo is glorified history. And as Diego Maradona had said, ”if it wasn’t for his injuries, people would have forgotten about me and Pelé”.
