When The Best Player On The Planet Was A 16 Year Old

In the late 90’s there was a Nike commercial that  went a bit something like this: “What if you asked god to make you the best football player in the  world? And he was actually listening? ”.

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Then as the words faded away, they simply showed  you a clip of Ronaldo O Fenomeno scoring against Compostela without any context… because  just looking at it, you knew exactly what they meant… In reality, everyone always knew… There  has never been an example of a wonderkid who was as obviously destined to become an all time great  as Ronaldo… It’s extremely common to focus on the injuries and the what if’s of Ronaldo’s career…  you know? The negative side… But we’re talking about a kid who by the age of 20, before he had  won a Ballon D’Or, before he had even arrived at Barcelona, had already played 115 matches and  scored 103 goals… I could show you a 5 second clip of him at age 16 and it’d still somehow  be enough to convince some of you that he was the greatest of all time, that’s how people  fell in love with him, that’s what made him world famous before he was even old enough to  drive a car… And that’s what I wanna focus on, focus on the time before the tragedies came,  when Ronaldo’s legacy was yet to be defined… And it all started with a young buck toothed kid,  skipping class to attend some futsal trials at his local club, Valqueire… And the funny thing  is back then he was yet to realize how much of a prodigy he really was, so when he noticed  that there were 50 kids there for the trials, he convinced himself he had no chance at making  it, so he told everyone he was a goalkeeper… because well… there were so few of them…. Surely  they’d give him a spot… and he was right, though it quickly became obvious to everyone, including  himself, that he was no goalkeeper… After a few matches on the bench, while losing two nil to  Vasco da Gama, his coach decided to just throw the new kid up front and see what happened and  the result was 4 goals for Ronaldo and a stunning comeback against a team they should have had no  chance playing against… Obviously after that, he became the team’s star player, and by the  end of his first season, he had scored 166 goals and there was even one match where out of his  team's 12 goals, 11 were scored by him… As you might imagine, by then Ronaldo wasn’t doubting  his skills anymore, in fact he was completely convinced that his calling was football, he  even used to say it was his first love… and so completely head over heels, by the age of 12, with  his parents going through a divorce and Ronaldo acting out a bit, he told his mom he had quit  school top focus on football… she was furious, she told him he would have no future, that he'd  grow up to be a nobody, but as much as she tried, she quickly realized there was nothing she  could do… she worked 12 hour shift at a diner, there was just no way for her to make sure he  wasn’t skipping class… and after all, there were far worse things for a kid to do after going  through some tough times than playing football… And well… as crazy as it may sound, that was  the best decision of her life… Over the next two years, his fame grew exponentially, the story  of the kid blessed by the gods began making the rounds… At 13, he moved to Social Ramos, at 14 to  São Cristóvão where he even got to play for under 20s despite being 6 years younger than everyone  around him….

After that, there was just no way around it, the big clubs arrived in town… First he got a trial at Flamengo, which actually sent him over the moon as it  was his childhood club… And he did really well, they even called him up for a second trial  but they refused to pay for his bus tickets, and he just couldn’t afford to keep on paying  for them as it took 4 different rides to get to their training center… so he just quit… Regardless, his journey obviously didn’t end there… Soon after 2 agents swooped in and  purchased the player’s rights for a mere 7 thousand dollars and began looking for a  club to sign him… Botafogo rejected him, São Paulo refused to pay the 25 thousand they  asked for and so for a while he remained at São Cristovão and it could have lasted even longer  if not for one little detail…guess who was the first team coach at São Cristovão? None other  than Jairzinho, the 1970 world cup star player and champion… who better to spot one of the  greatest strikers of all time than one of the greatest strikers of all time… So yeah, Jairzinho  made sure to personally recommend Ronaldo to his former club Cruzeiro, and after watching the 15  year old boy join the Under 17 Brazilian National Team and still pull off 8 goals, becoming the  top scorer of the South American Championship despite his team's underperformance… well… they  just had to sign him… And from there on out, things got really crazy really quick… The following month, he got his debut for Cruzeiro’s under 20 team and opened his tally with  4 goals in his first match… Then, before he had even adjusted to his new academy, he became the  first amateur player in the history of the club to join the first team on their pre-season tour… Fun  fact, that tournament was right here in Portugal… the first team ever he faced was Belenenses, and  the fans literally gave him a standing ovation at the end of the match… eventually, he even faced  Porto and they literally tried to sign him, but Cruzeiro, mere months after buying him for  the price of a Toyota Camry, supposedly asked Porto for 1. 75 million euros… that would have  been a record signing for them at the time, so even though the likes of Inter were already  making the rounds as well, they passed on it.

. . I mean, the kid had just turned 16… that  would have been the gamble of a lifetime… But moving on, 5 months after his arrival he got  his professional debut, that same month he was on the bench as Cruzeiro won the Brazilian Cup for  the second time in their history, 4 months after that he was afforded 3 more appearances and scored  in 2 of those… And man… by the time October rolled around, he had somehow already become a regular  starter and damn near immediately went on a run of 17 goals in 10 matches… Where should I even  start?

This included 4 matches in the Supercopa Libertadores… on debut he scored a hat trick,  on the second leg of that match he added 2 more goals… then they faced Nacional from Uruguay, he  scored the only goal of the first leg, then pulled a brace in the second and somehow they still  got knocked out… While all of this was going on, he also scored against every team he faced in the  league except for Flamengo… and at the end of this unbelievable run, he put up his first masterpiece  of a performance in a 6 nil win over Bahia… Becoming the first player in the history of the  club to score 5 goals in a single league match… It was a career defining moment, for the first goal  a penalty, for the second he put up the perfectly weighted pass to assist his teammate, for the  third he dribbled the keeper, for the fourth he scored a header, for the fifth another penalty and  for the sixth well he caught the keeper off guard, took the ball and scored with an open net… was  it gonna get him some fair play award? Definitely not, but nobody cared… he was a genius… he  was on the league’s goal scorers’ podium at 16 and as Cafu said “That was the first time he  showed the world he wasn’t just a great player, he was a phenomenon”. .

. And he wasn’t the only one  impressed with the young boy, that same year PSV scout Ernie Brandt had been in Brazil looking for  their Romário replacement, following his departure to Barcelona, if he happened to find someone  with half of Romário talent it would already be considered a gigantic achievement… we’re talking  about a guy who scored 128 goals in 145 matches for PSV … but well… you know where this is going…  After seeing Ronaldo, he said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes, I didn’t believe them when they told me  his age, it should be impossible for a 16 year old to be that good… Finding him gave me life… I  became a scout with the dream of one day finding someone like him”. .

. still it wouldn’t be that  year that Ronaldo would finally leave to europe… Before that he would join Cruzeiro for a  second season, completely taking over the Mineiro Championship with 22 goals in 19  matches, obviously taking the top scorer award and the title, racking up even more  iconic moments, including a hat trick against rivals Atletico Mineiro and one of the Copa  Libertadores most memorable goals ever against Boca Juniors… which was enough to send everyone  in the country into complete euphoria, pretty much peer pressuring the national team coach into  calling up for the world cup at 17 years of age… Had he gotten even a single minute of game  time, he would have become the 3rd youngest to ever play in a world cup, with only Pelé and  Norman Whiteside ranking above him… however, even though Brazil took the title, the only time  he stepped onto the pitch was to celebrate with his teammates… and though you could argue that was  a bit disappointing… Well… just the fact the name of a 17 year old was in the team sheet of the  most notorious national team in the world was enough to send everyone, from AC Milan, to  Juve and Ajax after his signing… which meant PSV were now virtually out of the race… If not  for one little factor… During the tournament, Ronaldo had grown extremely fond of Romário,  who he now saw as his mentor… and as you might imagine, when he asked Romário what he should do,  of course he advised him to join his former team… arguing that they were the perfect stepping  stone into Europe… though, now looking back, it’s hard not to argue that joining Ajax had  a fair chance of going a bit better… you know considering that that year they literally won  the Champions League… you know the one trophy Ronaldo never managed to win? Yeah, regardless  of whether he should’ve joined Ajax instead, at least this way we got to watch Van Gaal go  on a tirade about how he didn’t need Ronaldo because “he had Kluivert”.

. . Well… Kluivert  scored 22 goals that season… Ronaldo… Well, the moment he arrived, they asked him how many  goals we would score, he said 30… and well if that seems unrealistic for an 18 year old first season  in europe, well let me tell you he really did end up not keeping his word… instead he scored 35… Despite this, unlike what you might imagine, upon arrival there were basically no fans waiting for  him… While today, a player like Vinicius Jr can arrive from Brazil with a handful of goals to his  name and already have 40 thousand fans waiting… Back then, things weren’t like that at all… Nobody  knew who this kid was, even PSV didn’t exactly move mountains in order to make his adaptation  to the new country any easier… he arrived at the airport pretty much alone, with a piece of  paper strapped to his chest with his name on it… Even when his family joined him in Eindhoven, he  was stuck living with his mom and girlfriend in the same apartment… and yeah, that caused some  trouble… but still, somehow, in football terms, his adaptation was… barely an adaptation really…  he kind of just arrived and began dominating… After weeks of random pundits arguing that 6  million was too much for such a young unknown player, that he was inexperienced and that he  would flop… well… Ronaldo scored 1 goal in his first game, 2 in his second and 3 in his third… Somehow he still came out defeated to Leverkusen in that third match, but his performance sent  shockwaves across europe… many claim it was the most important moment of his career….

After the  match, many legends came out praising the young boy… Even Beckenbauer, the German titan known as  Der Kaiser who definitely isn’t easily impressed, was clearly emotional that day, eventually  claiming “Today We’ve witnessed the new Pelé”. . .

and let me tell you… not many people knew  Pelé as well as Beckenbauer so when he said that, everyone listened… Similar to that situation,  legendary Rudi Voller also made sure to say “Never in my life have I seen an 18 year old  play like this”. . .

. but what I always felt was funny about that quote was that the  day he said that, Ronaldo was still 17…. As the months went by Ronaldo quite simply  didn’t stop scoring and by the end of the season, even if PSV had failed to take any trophies and  had only managed a third place finish… Ronaldo had managed to keep the one promise he had made  to Romário… he had broken his record… Despite the fact Romário was easily one of the greatest of all  time and nearly 6 years older than Ronaldo when he arrived at PSV, with 30 league goals, Ronaldo  had outdone Romário’s best ever tally across his 5 years with the club… And in fact, only 1  PSV player had ever managed to hit the 30 goal mark and the last time any player had managed  such numbers in the Eredivisie was a decade earlier… His name was Marco Van Basten… After a season like this, the big clubs became more relentless than ever… Inter  especially made one bid after the other, trying to make up for the fact they had failed  to secure his signing 3 years earlier… but PSV never budged….

And eventually, trying to prove  they didn’t need Ronaldo, they went and signed someone they believed would be just as good… that  year’s under 20 world cup golden ball winner, Caio Ribeiro… if you don’t remember him… well…  that’s probably because by the time he left Italy two years later… all he had managed to do  was score a single goal… kind of awkward uh? And so…. After a summer that saw even Pelé give  him a standing ovation in a match against England, Ronaldo went into his second season more explosive  than ever, even scoring 4 goals in a single UEFA Cup match and by the start of October he was on 11  goals in 8 matches… However it was then that the first red flags were raised… Having gone through  a growth spurt that saw him grow 4 centimeters and put on 6 kilos, Ronaldo has been complaining  since the beginning of the season that he felt off and that month the pain in his knees finally  became too much… being sidelined for 24 days… as I once heard someone say “A Formula 1 breaks down  more often than a Corolla” and looking at the way he played, the force he exerted upon his knees  at every turn, it’s unbelievable that his knee caps didn’t just turn to dust… Watching him in  rehab was as heartbreaking as it was impressive, his determination was off the charts… In  one of the videos you can hear him speak and… you know what he said, he said: “I need  football, I need to score… this is my entire life… If i can’t do this… I… I…” Well… he  never finished that sentence… but I think we can all imagine what he was about to say… Still, just as everyone began fearing the worst, he simply came back and quickly went on a  streak that saw him score 8 goals in 5 matches, including a hat trick on only his second  start since the injury… but unfortunately the roller coaster wouldn’t end there… As December started, Ronaldo went down once more… After an MRI, the worst was confirmed, besides  the obvious inflammation of his knee… it had also calcified and surgery would be needed… In February  the procedure finally took place… he was warned to be careful and take his time in rehabilitation  but instead he kept on trying to force the staff to let him train with the team and about 5 weeks  later, right after PSV finally lost and dropped to second place on the table, he made his way back  onto the team sheet…as he would say years later: “A phenomenon can’t fail, he can’t have  pain and he can never stop scoring”.

. . Hearing this, you might assume it was the manager  who tried to get him back on as soon as possible, desperate to keep his spot at the top of the  league, but in reality it was quite the opposite, Ronaldo was the one putting himself in this  position, he literally got into a confrontation with the manager, angry that he was refusing to  play him and with PSV soon losing the league to Ajax, once Ronaldo was given only 15 minutes  of playing time in the cup final… he completely lost it and began looking for a way out of  the club… and with his performances in the Olympic Games the following month taking over the  covers of every sports newspaper in the world, no matter how scary his fitness issues could  look, given just how great he was… seemingly every club in the world was willing to risk  everything for him… and soon a bidding war between Inter and Barcelona started… While Inter were still on the backfoot, worried about the potential for injury,  Barcelona were desperate to sign a top class striker following repeated unsuccessful  negotiations with Blackburn for Alan Shearer, who insisted the player was never ever leaving  the club, and in the end it all culminated in what looked like a skit straight out of a MrBean  movie with Barcelona vice president Joan Gaspart disguising himself as a waiter in order to get  into the hotel where the Brazilian national team was staying at, so that he could get to Ronaldo  and hand him a contract against the wishes of PSV, which he would literally sign on top of his bed… Once that was done, it was only a matter of getting PSV on board, which was pretty easy  considering that Barcelona were willing to pay a world record 15 million euros for the  19 year old who by then had also made sure to ruin his relationship with the club for good,  calling his manager “stupid” and then claiming he would even play for Barcelona “for free”.

. . Ironically two weeks after this, the all time transfer record was broken again… as  Alan Shearer moved to Newcastle… I just wish I could have seen the faces of the  Barcelona board once they got the news… Still I’m sure they ended up not minding it too  much as by the end of the year Ronaldo had been named FIFA World Player Of The Year and had missed  out on the Ballon D’Or by a single vote, as his own mom would say “By then Ronaldo didn’t belong  to me anymore, he belonged to the world”.

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that’s how famous he was… When it came to Inter  well… one year later, following some issues over contract negotiations at Barcelona, they finally  got their man… breaking the all time transfer record one more time… But still, considering  before they had dropped out of the transfer race for being afraid he was too injury prone,  it all became incredibly ironic considering that by the time he left the club 5 years later, he had  only managed to play 1 full season for them, being sidelined for a total of 773 days… A year before  his arrival at Inter, he was asked what was his biggest fear… his answer was “Injury…an injured  player is the saddest thing there is”. . .