Hello, a few years ago I made with help from video material and the La Stampa archive, as well as my own material, a try to analyse the efforts of Ronaldo at Internazionale. Luckily, everything was filmed so I could make an accurate breakdown of the numbers. For many Ronaldo embodies at his peak form one of the best attackers the modern game has seen. The 1996 to 1999 years are often regarded as 'unstoppable'. Ronaldo had at Barcelona 5 to 6 assists (around five), and more importantly, 34 goals in 37 matches. The assists number is available on the internet as well and matched with what I could find. Here is what I have for his Internazionale years, where he was according to many at his peak and the best player of his generation. This are the league statistics, so it does not cover cup matches or European games. 1997/1998 25 goals in 32 appearances Breakdown of goals: 5 left-footed goal 1 header 3 direct free kick goals 6 penalty kick goals Assists - 5: 04.01.1998 Inter - Juventus (1:0) 15.02.1998 Inter - Lecce (5:0) 05.04.1998 Inter - Sampdoria (3:0) 2 assists [Note: Serie A counted one Sampdoria goal as own goal but I decided otherwise; video is on youtube] 1998/1999 14 goals in 19 appearances Breakdown of goals: 2 left-footed goals 1 header 0 direct free kick goals 7 penalty kick goals Assists - 5: 01.11.1998 Inter – Bari (2:3) 06.12.1998 Vicenza – Inter (1:1) 10.01.1999 Inter – Venezia (6:2) 2 assists 1999/2000 3 goals in 7 appearances Breakdown of goals: 0 left footed goals 0 headers 0 direct free kick goals 2 penalty kick goals Assists: No assists 2001/2002 7 goals in 10 appearances Breakdown of goals: 1 left footed goal 1 direct free kick goal 1 header 0 PK goals Assists - 1: 21.04.2002 Brescia – Inter (2:2)
Just to add up ... to his 97-98 year besides the goals record 25goals/31games (as many younger who had not watched him playing back then might question - what a big deal? ) 1- Ronaldo got the nick "Il Fenomeno" right after first 5,6 games at Inter in his very first SerieA career (by Italian press). Eventhough he had scored 34goals (Barca record at time) previous season, not many (SerieA fans and experts) expected him could adapt and repeat the same in Serie A - the Most difficult league in term of defense and strategy at that era! Plus he was only 21 at time. He won people's heart and view 2- Same as above point, he did score and even toyed with great DF there. Note that at least 30% of his goals were result of his own talent ... dribble run, speed, and precised shots ... He was like ONE MAN SHOW at Inter ( in a bit less exciting than the year in liga)
I was actually curious about your feedback - if you know maybe more or have additions/corrections. I will provide videos with proof by the way.
Pretty odd how Ronaldo is labeled a 'one-man-show' at Inter when they were the highest spending club at that time.
Very good rmark .. that Inter was among the highest spending club for they possessed 30-40players at time (too many but no one was truly superstars at peak time) Look at Inter squad in 97-98 season: - Djorkaef and Zamorano both were bought in 96-97 at the eve of their career 30,31 years old. They still played well but not superstar like. Both combined (10goals seaon) did not even make half of Roanldo 25 goals ! - Both Recoba and Kanu were brought in at young ages (like Ronaldo) but they were just bench warmer as they could not adapt SerieA games. Both combined did not even make >15games - Zanetti and Simione were very good players but they were in defense ... So out of 30+ players ... who else but Ronaldo to run the show and make an impact in SerieA in his first season. (if we want to compare Inter 98 squad to Barca, Real, ManU or Bayern now? huge difference ... in quality! )
Djorkaeff was actually in great shape in 97/98. Scored his 8 goals often from tight angles (that one with an overhead kick was in another season) and had many assists to Ronaldo. According to my info, he was the main assister to Ronaldo. Djorkaeff scored also an equal amount of free kicks. That said, it was only in 98/99 that Ronaldo received classy lieutenants up front. Zamorano returned from injury and Baggio was also acquired from Bologna - who was revived at Bologna. Also Djorkaeff still played and scored 8 goals too although he was less significant IMO. Furthermore, the form of Aron Winter declined - he was among the top 5 in the Gazzetta ranking ( http://football-ratings.blogspot.nl/2012/03/serie-top-rated-players-199798.html ) and according to dbscalcio #1 in his position in 97/98. He was widely regarded as one of the best in his profession and many did not understand his limited playing time at WC98. But in 98/99 his form declined severely, which is also reflected in the ranking - outside of the top 10 in his position. He became less important and less a focal point ('bossy') for the team but this had paradoxically as effect that the focus was more on the attack in 98/99. Winter was after all an holding type of player. But that's my take. Feel free to shoot.
You're right ... Djorkaeff made 98 one of his best form ... (he did very well in WC98 too and got the Legion D'honneur by France) - His best season was 97 before Ronaldo joined- He was close to top10 best player in Ballon D;or but he is no Xavi nor Iniesta (of last few season) what I meant is Ronaldo's show eclipsed everyone in the team (also the whole league). That dbscalcio rating is ... well ok to refer to but ain't no bible. They rated Ronaldo rather low despite of he won best player in serieA! I remember that year, alot of discussions to compare Bierhoff (27goals) and Ronaldo as who is truely best forward in SerieA, plus the fact Bierhoff got higher rating points (!!! ) People in SerieA kind of divided and debate with (like CR7 and Messi now) who scored most winning goals, taking off their goals , who is better team worker .... bla bla ... Sillly though =================================================== Looking back when Inter got him (Barca and his agent agreed the deal behind his back, while the youngster was playing copa97 in Brazil - Ronaldo loved Barca and Bob Robson as his step dad) http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/08/news/08iht-stars.t.html Ronaldo Chases Twin Goals By Rob Hughes Published: June 8, 1998 He was born the son of a caring mother and a hopeless, drug addict father. He learned soccer on the streets of Bento Riveiro, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. At 21, Nazaria de Lima Ronaldo Luiz is worth an estimated $7 million a year, after tax. Simply known as Ronaldo, he is simply the best of 200 million soccer players on the planet. Exactly 40 years ago, another Brazilian, Pele, blossomed at his first World Cup and became the master of the sport. Ronaldo's destiny is to follow that. .... Ronaldo has already proved that in any climate and in any team he is a goalscorer for all seasons. At high altitude in La Paz, in the depths of a Moscow winter, on carpet across the desert in Riyadh, he has done his thing. In the leagues of Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain and now Italy, he has netted 228 goals in 263 club games. For the national side, he has amassed 25 goals in 35 matches. No system has yet boxed him in, nor any kick deterred him. .... The whole world knows what he does. The best, sometimes the meanest, defenders know the route he will take to goal because it is generally the most direct. Knowing it and stopping it are different things. He is a relative baby in his calling, yet if we must accept Nike's monopoly of modern sporting greatness, he ranks up there with Michael Jordan in basketball, Tiger Woods in golf and Pete Sampras in tennis, all of whom are signed to Nike. Often when a prodigy grows, the tests come with a first love affair or with wealth beyond imagination. When Ronaldo moved from Barcelona to Inter Milan last year, he had both. With his sweetheart Susana Werner, he stayed in the suite previously used by Diana, Princess of Wales, at Milan's Principe Di Savoia hotel. Inter had paid the equivalent of 147 Ferraris to get him; Ronaldo's mother Sonia had once sold pizzas to feed him.
One can also make a case for: 2 headers - one was a rebound from very close range. Goalkeeper saved it and Ronaldo stood accidentally on the right position. 4 direct free kick goals - sources on the internet also vary between three and four because the goalkeeper touched one. After close review I'd go for four but I had originally three. 5 left-footed goals are right and clear. 6 PK goals too. Will also do it for the other seasons, to identify a range.
Thanks Schwuppe for the link (with pix) In fact Puck can do wiki to see that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_A_Footballer_of_the_Year 1- Ronaldo won the so called "oscar del Calcio" 1998 (part AIC Associazione Italiana Calciatori of serie A awards) 2- in 2007: Ronaldo won "oscar dela oscar del calcio" (best player in SerieA of whole decade 96-07) beating Totti, Buffon, Kaka Del Pierro Zidane and Maldini , who were all legends in their clubs, despite of R9 only playin g <2years for Inter and barely 1 season at Milan!
After watching again it seems that he had 1 left-footed goal. The other things are clear and I think also not subject to debate.
After checking I can also provide this info now. With help from youtube, which manages me to get this complete as far as the 'official games' are concerned: Assists Ronaldo in Brazil national team (62 goals, 26 assists, 98 caps): [Home playing team first] 15. 26/02/1997 – Brazil – Poland 4:2 1 assist (2 goals) 16. 02/04/1997 – Brazil – Chile 4:0 2 assists (2 goals, PK) 17. 30/04/1997 – Brazil – Mexico 4:0 1 assist 20. 08/06/1997 – Brazil – Italy 3:3 1 assist (1 goal) [Tournoi de France] 26. 26/06/1997 – Peru – Brazil 0:7 1 assist [Copa America, semi-final] 30. 12/12/1997 – Saudi-Arabia – Brazil 0:3 1 assist [Confederations Cup, group] 34. 21/12/1997 – Brazil – Australia 6:0 1 assist (3 goals) [Confederations Cup, final] 37. 03/06/1998 – Brazil – Andorra 3:0 1 assist 39. 16/06/1998 – Brazil – Morocco 3:0 1 assist (1 goal) [World Cup, group] 42. 03/07/1998 – Brazil – Denmark 3:2 2 assists [World Cup, quarter-final] 47. 03/07/1999 – Brazil – Mexico 2:1 1 assist [Copa America, group] 50. 14/07/1999 – Brazil – Mexico 2:0 1 assist [Copa America, semi-final] 53. 07/09/1999 – Brazil – Argentina 4:2 1 assist (1 goal) 54. 09/10/1999 – Netherlands – Brazil 2:2 2 assists [injury era] 57. 25/05/2002 – Malaysia – Brazil 0:4 1 assist (1 goal) 70. 06/09/2003 – Colombia – Brazil 1:2 1 assist (1 goal) [WC-qualifier] 74. 19/11/2003 – Brazil – Uruguay 3:3 1 assist (2 goals) [WC-qualifier] 80. 18/08/2004 – Haiti – Brazil 0:6 2 assists 83. 09/10/2004 – Venezuela – Brazil 2:5 1 assist (2 goals) [WC-qualifier] 86. 27/03/2005 – Brazil – Peru 1:0 1 assist [WC-qualifier] 89. 04/09/2005 – Brazil – Chile 5:0 1 assist [WC-qualifier] 94. 18/06/2006 – Brazil – Australia 2:0 1 assist [World Cup, group] Summary: 98 caps, 62 goals, 26 assists (0.90) Friendlies: 39 caps, 21 goals, 11 assists (0.82) Copa America: 13 caps, 10 goals, 3 assists (1.00) Confederations Cup: 5 caps, 4 goals, 2 assists (1.20) World Cup: 19 caps, 15 goals, 4 assists (1.00) WC-qualification: 15 caps, 10 goals, 5 assists (1.00) Other tournaments: 7 caps, 2 goals, 1 assist (0.43) Pre-injury: 54 caps, 36 goals, 17 assists (0.98) Friendlies: 23 caps, 16 goals, 8 assists (1.04) Copa America: 13 caps, 10 goals, 3 assists (1.00) Confederations Cup: 5 caps, 4 goals, 2 assists (1.20) World Cup: 7 caps, 4 goals, 3 assists (1.00) Other tournaments: 6 caps, 2 goals, 1 assist (0.50) Post-injury: 44 caps, 26 goals, 9 assists (0.79) Friendlies: 16 caps, 5 goals, 3 assists (0.50) World Cup: 12 caps, 11 goals, 1 assist (1.00) WC-qualification: 15 caps, 10 goals, 5 assists (1.00) Other tournaments: 1 caps, 0 goals, 0 assist (N/A) 'Other' Brazil games – (11 goals, 2 assists, 15 caps): 10/06/1996 – Brazil – Denmark 5:1 1 assist (1 goal) [Olympic teams] 28/04/1999 – Barcelona CF – Brazil 2:2 1 assist (1 goal) PK – 8 PK goals in official games (62 goals in total): 11. 28/08/1996 – Russia – Brazil 2:2 16. 02/04/1997 – Brazil – Chile 4:0 28. 10/08/1997 – South Korea – Brazil 1:2 41. 27/06/1998 – Brazil – Chile 4:1 [World Cup, rnd 16] 48. 06/07/1999 – Brazil – Chile 1:0 [Copa America, group] 78. 02/06/2004 – Brazil – Argentina 3:1 (3 PK) [WC-qualifiers]
Great job Puck. (we used to have a thorough stats of R9 (Zico, Pele, ...) back in Soccerpulse days ... but then I lost all due to my laptop crash)
Do you know about Ronaldinho? Anyway, the 26 assists for Ronaldo is more than Platini, quite a few more than Zico, a few more than Maradona, exactly the same as Cruijff, a few more than Gullit, a few more than Pelé... It is a good number! Although it is near impossible to exactly compare players, it is an indication that it is a fine number. Can't publish the other numbers now because that is largely the work of Vegan10. Can maybe do for Gullit (66 caps) because that is completely my own work. Assists for Ronaldo are also on youtube. [note: also includes goals and assists for non-A matches; assists part starts at 8:50]
Again what a great job that you have brought up this thread about O Fenomeno. He was "nearly" a forgotten hero if he did not leave a WC goals record in WC06, following the "fatness' and injuries disasters at the end of his career! Ronaldo was a great player with quality and intelligence (on pitch) and his career was complex to rate since it divided by 2 periods with 4 times knee injuries separate them and made them worse. In theory, Ronaldo got 15years playing career, but at least 5,6years he was in hospital or on the sideline. - 96-01: a true genius who had got all drives and potential (only 18-21) to become TOP10 all times (if not direct rival to Pele maradona Cruijff ...) - 2 major knee surgeries (> 2.5yrs in hospital) - 02-08: among (if not the finest) center forward in the world/history - 2 knee surgeries and few minor ones (average another >3years off pitch in between) ================================================== to you point: 1- Before 2 big knee surgeries, Ronaldo was a very complete forward ( a la Puskas + samba)- He was every where on pitch to collect balls, make space and of course scoring. Hence it showed clear in your STATS 2- Despite of his goals and assists, Ronaldo was no Pele/Maradona/Cruijff .. neither in style nor role. Why? - Ronaldo was kind of "egoist" in front of goals - all his movements started with a "vision" that he can score. Other than that, he would only PASS (assist) when he had no other options to shoot! - Ronaldo was a complete forward (dribble, speed, shoot, running, vision, passing and crossing) but he ain't NO LEADER of a team. He talks a lot off pitch but rarely involved/comments on pitch. - However, eventhough he is no leader (a la Maradona Cruijff or Pele) of the team, Ronaldo made a great impact on team success just like them! Note that when Ronaldo played most the time the teams were better and having betetr winning chances. A clear STATS was his winning percentage for Brazil >85% (over 90+games) and much higher than his compatriots during same period: Rivaldo, Roanldinho, Carlos Cafu ... with <80% - Guess what? they all suffered more loss when Ronaldo did not feature on the pitch!
James, You must also take into account that others faced also serious injuries. Cruijff had to deal with multiple knee injuries too, Maradona broken ankle etcetera (Van Basten with destroyed ankle after 1986). Furthermore, eras are not comparable. However, his number is right there with the best. Anyhow, I asked whether you know about Ronaldinho? I'm now busy with Laudrup for Danish NT (he had a big number too!).
I wish I could help ... I wrote in earlier post , that I had lost all the data- laptop hard drive crashed (excel, links sources) a while back for many great players collected from Soccerpulse forum! (include Ronaldinho but not so complete as he was barely started at time 2005)
Not sure if you already have these: Club vs teams; http://www.transfermarkt.de/en/ronaldinho-gaucho/bilanz/spieler_3373.html National team: http://people.ufpr.br/~mmsabino/sstatistics/ronaldinho_gaucho.html
I don't think the assist stats are accurate, especially for Barca and the first season at Inter. I counted 9 assists in this video of his year at Barca (If you include his shot which was tucked in by giovanni after hitting the post). According to the uploader the highlights, excluding goals, are only from 25 matches. So he might have more assists in the other 22 matches which don't have full highlights.