Stars

Tearful Ronaldo announces retirement from football

(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-02-15 11:33

National team glory

Brazil's Ronaldo smiles during a World Cup training session in Frankfurt in this June 30, 2006 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Ronaldo was a member of Brazil's World Cup squad that won the 1994 World Cup in the United States, although he was a teenager and never played. He was the team's top star in France in 1998, but just before the final he suffered seizures at the team's hotel and disappointed as the French won.

"Ronaldo is the best player I ever played with," former Inter Milan teammate Youri Djorkaeff, who also played against Ronaldo in the 1998 World Cup final, told French RMC radio. "But he was also a very engaging person. When we were training, he would always come up with crazy dribbles. We would practically stop to watch him. It was extraordinary."

It was in 2002 that Ronaldo peaked with the national team, helping Brazil win the tournament in South Korea and Japan with two goals in the final against Germany.

He clinched his third FIFA Player of the Year award that year, adding to the ones he had already won in 1996 and 1997.

He was among those who disappointed in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when Brazil fell to the French again in the quarterfinals, but he was still able to score his record-breaking 15th goal, a mark that still stands.

Brazil's Ronaldo (R) and Rivaldo kiss the World Cup trophy after their 2-0 victory over Germany in the World Cup final in Yokohama in this June 30, 2002 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Ronaldo also helped Brazil win the 1997 and 1999 Copa America, as well as the 1997 Confederations Cup and a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Ronaldo scored 67 goals in 104 internationals with Brazil, but was never again called up to the national team after the disappointing performance in 2006. There were calls for his return to the squad after he helped Corinthians win the 2009 Brazilian Cup, but he was never able to get back in shape.

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo poses with his trophy after he won the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in Disneyland Paris in Marne La Vallee, eastern Paris, in this Jan 12, 1998 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]