Ronaldo - O Fenomeno

Ronaldinho has chosen to the number 80 to go on the back of his shirt. Whilst with Barcelona, Ronaldinho wore the number 10. On transfering to Milan, he was unable to keep the number 10 as it is currently being worn by Clarence Seedorf.

Ronaldinho did not expect Seedorf to give up his number as suggetsed by the media as he does not believe that a number makes a player great.

The reason for choosing 80 is that Ronaldinho was born in 1980.

However, there is a slight problem with the number 80 as the company that manages Ronaldinho’s image rights is named R10. It is yet to be revealed if the company will change its name to R80.

Maradona is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time, following his amazing exploits for Napoli and Argentina during the 1980s and early 90s.

Ronaldo meanwhile was seen by many as the best in the world during the late 1990s, and like Maradona he also blessed Italian football, first with Inter from 1997 to 2002, and then with Milan from 2007 until his contract expired at the beginning of this month.

“Maradona is the best opponent I’ve ever played against in my career,” Maldini told Il Giornale.

“However Ronaldo, when he was at Inter, was very close to him. He was devastating.”

Maldini further praised his former team-mate, by stating that his arrival at Milan in January 2007 played a big role in their Champions League triumph at the end of that season, despite the fact that the Brazilian was cup-tied for the competition.

“When he arrived he gave us an incredible lift, just as Ronaldinho has done now.

“We won the Champions League thanks to him. He did not play, but we arrived in Athens exploiting the emotional wave of his signing.”

Milan defeated Liverpool in the final 2-1, with Pippo Inzaghi scoring both of the Rossoneri’s goals.

Okay guys I think the decision by Milan management has been made to not include Ronaldo this upcoming season. With the signing of Ronaldinho, Galliani has stated that there will be no additions to the team and that means no Ronaldo.

There has only been negative news about Ronaldo, first was his encounter with three tranvestites and the second was him on a yacht looking plump with a cigarette in his hand. Both of these headlines does not do Ronaldo any justice, especially with a club like AC Milan which has built and prides itself on reputation.

Flamengo has made it public that they are interested in signing Ronaldo and Ronaldo has responded positively. It is inevitable that Ronaldo will play for a Brazilian club as he has stated all his life that he would like to end his career there but I personally don’t think the great man is finished yet. I still think he has a couple of years left in him in a top league. The only problem is that Ronaldo has already played for the best clubs in the two top leagues. He has played for Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan so where to now?

He could join his old team mate Beckham at Galaxy but I don’t see that happening this year. I would like to see Ronaldo in Europe because there is more coverage but at the end of the day it would be just nice to see Ronaldo on a pitch scoring goals.

For the coming months it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for Ronaldo!!!