Many football icons believe Ronaldo Nazario is the Real ‘Ronaldo’ rather than Cristiano Ronaldo, who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Although CR7 undoubtedly outperforms R9 in terms of length and professional accomplishments, the Brazilian attacker was a formidable opponent in his prime.
You had to be there to see it.
By the time Ronaldo was 21, he had already broken the world-record transfer fee twice, first in a 1996 move from PSV to Barcelona, and then in a switch to Inter the following summer.
It was in Serie A that he became known as “Il Fenomeno”, and it’s not hard to see why.
He was at the height of his abilities following his first season in Italy, but from the day of the 1998 World Cup final until the following competition four years later, he was plagued by awful misfortune, with illness and injuries nearly ruining his career.
It would have been for ordinary people, but Ronaldo was something we had never seen before. He scored eight goals as Brazil won their fifth World Cup, bringing the sport back to its highest level. In 2002, he won his third World Player of the Year award to complete his greatest comeback to date.
At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal, a tournament record at the time. He also won the 1997 Copa América, where he became the player of the tournament and the 1999 Copa América, where he was the top goalscorer.
| Tournament | Matches | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played |
| LaLiga | 164 | 116 | 34 | 13.136 |
| Serie A | 88 | 58 | 11 | 6.768 |
| Eredivisie | 46 | 42 | 4 | 3.839 |
| UEFA Champions League | 40 | 14 | 9 | 2.911 |
| Série A | 31 | 18 | 6 | 2.471 |
| UEFA Cup | 23 | 15 | 3 | 1.751 |
| Libertadores | 17 | 5 | – | 1.465 |
| Campeonato Paulista | 17 | 8 | 1 | 1.387 |
| Copa del Rey | 15 | 10 | 3 | 1.243 |
| Italy Cup | 8 | 3 | – | 438 |
| Copa do Brasil | 8 | 3 | – | 605 |
| Cup Winners’ Cup | 7 | 5 | 1 | 600 |
| TOTO KNVB Beker | 4 | 3 | 1 | 251 |
| Paulistão A1 – Fase Final | 4 | 3 | – | 342 |
| Supercopa | 3 | 3 | 2 | 270 |
| Recopa Sudamericana | 2 | – | – | 180 |
| Champions League Qu. | 2 | 2 | – | 133 |
| Play-Out Serie A | 1 | – | – | 45 |
| Intercontinental Cup | 1 | 1 | – | 82 |
