The game of soccer has seen many players with the same first or last name throughout its history. Some of them were separated by a generation, others stood shoulder to shoulder on the soccer pitch! Sure, the Peles, Coles, Keegans and Nevilles immediately come to mind, but the three Ronaldo’s of world soccer hold centre stage when it comes to common names!
The mid 1990s and early 2000s saw Brazilian striker Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima reigning as the superstar of soccer. Regarded as the best player in the world, he has the honor of being the only other player besides Zinédine Zidane to have won three FIFA Player of the Year awards. Remembered as ‘O Fenômeno’ or The Phenomenon for his goal scoring ability, Ronaldo made the number nine soccer shirt famous and synonymous with a centre forward position.
An integral player in the Brazilian team that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups, Ronaldo went on to break Gerd Müller's world record of fourteen goals by scoring his fifteenth goal during the 2006 World Cup, making him the highest scorer in World Cup history! With 97 appearances in international matches, Ronaldo has 62 goals to his credit and happens to be just 15 goals away from the Brazilian national record! Countryman and soccer legend, Pele, included Ronaldo in his list of FIFA’s 100 greatest footballers ever. Ironically, though ‘The Phenomenon’ is Cristiano Ronaldo’s idol, the young Portuguese footballer’s name comes to the new generation’s mind when they hear the name Ronaldo!
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, named after his parent’s admiration for former American president, Ronald Reagan, joined Sporting Lisbon around the time Brazil’s Ronaldo was claiming his third FIFA World Player award! That too, after helping his country win their fifth World Cup title. As for the young Ronaldo, he was picked up by Manchester United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Sadly enough, the older of the two Ronaldo's faced some grievous injuries that saw his career go downhill... Meanwhile, young Ronaldo’s career began to peak and he picked up his first FIFA World Player award. Today, the young dynamo has the distinction of being the most expensive and highest paid player in the history of soccer with a £80 million transfer to Real Madrid!
While we’re talking about Ronaldo’s let’s not forget another superstar in his own right, Brazil’s Ronaldinho, whose real name is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira! Born on the 21st of March in 1980, he was nicknamed Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho to distinguish him from senior Ronaldo! Who, by the way, was already known as ‘Ronaldinho’ in Brazil, that’s why the Gaucho had to be added! Getting confusing, isn’t it?! Anyway, when senior Ronaldo moved to Europe he went by his first name, and Ronaldinho dropped ‘Gaúcho’ from his nickname and became simply Ronaldinho! If it was confusing earlier, don’t know what this is?!
Ronaldinho, also an extremely prolific goal scorer, is recognized as one of the best footballers of his generation. Winning his first Champions League in the year 2006, he soon became a Spanish citizen. Though he had his first taste of fame at thirteen when he scored as many as 23 goals in a 23:0 win against a local team! Proudly wearing their youth soccer uniforms, the U-17 Brazil team won the 1997 World Championship at Egypt, where Ronaldinho was discovered as a rising star, someone to watch out for. He went on to score two goals in the tournament!
Given that Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were just starting their careers when Ronaldo was at the peak of his career, it would be a shame if the next generation were to forget the older Ronaldo’s contribution to this game... For some of us, he will always be lovingly remembered as R9, The Phenomenon that he certainly was...
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