Even better than Pelé ????? Definitely one of the greatest of all-time,and the most amazing part of all is that the Ronaldo of today (after the injury) is less spectacular but more effective if you think about it,he may disappear from a game for 80 minutes and out of nowhere will win the game for you in 2 plays LOL,it's unbelievable. And then one thing I will say,Top 1 or 2 big game players of all time,it's unreal how often he come's through,I was reading a article from about 2 years ago and it reminded me how many times this guy has stepped it up in the clutch. The most recent one I remember was last season when he was going through a bad goal less streak and guess what game he decided to snap out of it? Barcelona x Real Madrid at the Bernabeu LOL. He gave the 1st assist 2 Zidane when Zizou smashed his head on the post and scored the second from a header,can't remember if he scored again,but the point is,he IS mister clutch. check this article I was reading by soccernet.com MADRID, June 22 (Reuters) - Ronaldo once again demonstrated that he is the best in the world when it comes to the big occasion as he almost single-handedly guided Real Madrid to their 29th league title on a night of high drama in Spain. With Real needing to beat Athletic Bilbao to win the championship, Ronaldo obliged with another match-winning display when it really counted. The Brazilian, sporting the same bizarre hairstyle he wore at the World Cup, put his side ahead with a close-range strike after nine minutes and, after Bilbao had equalised, won the free kick that led to their second. When news began to filter through that second-placed Real Sociedad were winning at home to Atletico Madrid and closing in, nerves were starting to fray at the Bernabeu but a brilliant second goal from Ronaldo settled matters. Timing his run to perfection, Ronaldo latched on to a pass from Zinedine Zidane and belted the ball past Bilbao keeper Aranzubia to score his 23rd league goal of the season. It was a first domestic league title for Ronaldo, who scored 34 league goals for Barcelona in the 1996-97 season but had to settle for the runners-up spot behind Real in the league. 'We're talking about the best player in the world,' said Real coach Vicente del Bosque. 'He has proved that and has helped us become the best team.' A tally of 23 league goals looked a distant target when he arrived from Inter Milan in a $44.2 million transfer. His eight goals in South Korea and Japan, including two in the final, had made him the competition's top scorer and proved that he was back to something like his best after career-threatening injury problems. Real's move for the Brazilian striker was still a huge gamble, though, with many questioning whether he could reproduce his World Cup form on a regular basis. When he arrived at the Bernabeu, he was patently unfit and he did not make his debut until the fifth league match of the season against Alaves. With the eyes of the world on him, and many people waiting for him to fail, Ronaldo did what he does best, scoring two brilliant goals, one of them within a minute of coming on, to lead Real to a 5-2 win. He has continued scoring vital goals for Real Madrid ever since, always saving his best for the biggest matches. He returned to Yokohama, the scene of his World Cup triumph with Brazil, to win his first title with Real in December, scoring the opening goal in the side's 2-0 win over Olimpia of Paraguay in the World Club Cup. Later in December he won the European Player of the Year award for the second time and the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the third time as he finished the year on a high note. Ronaldo proved Real's saviour in the second phase of the Champions League, heading the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Lokomotiv Moscow that took his team through to the knock-out phase. STANDING OVATION In the quarter-finals, his hat-trick in the second leg away to Manchester United clinched a 6-5 aggregate win for Real and earned him a standing ovation from the Old Trafford crowd. Ronaldo scored in Real's 2-1 win over Juventus in the semi-final first leg but injury limited him to a substitute's role in the return and Juventus denied the Spaniards a place in the final. That left the domestic league as Real's only hope of claiming a major trophy and Ronaldo's inspirational run of form at the end of the season led them to victory. He scored twice in a crucial 2-1 win away to Valencia, twice again away to Atletico Madrid last week and added another double to clinch the title against Bilbao.
Ronaldo is fantastic,no doubt.And if he is good physically he is gonna be playing for many years to come.
But the funny thing is that not even that stopped him from deciding the game.... [if i remember correctly] He won a penalty which Figo failed to convert. And even last season he got the party started against Roma and hit the post like twice against Juve in the 2nd leg. And Sacchi and Luxa seemed convince that he still has the potential to become even better ....If he wasn't so lazy that is
Yeah,1st if he wasn't so lazy and 2nd, has anybody ever stopped to think of what could have been if he never got injured?
You are missing my point. When I say the best player I have ever seen I mean LIVE, as in buy a ticket, go to the game. I was at the WC in 2002 to watch him LIVE. I didn't watch Pele, LIVE. Get it?
Oh live. You didn't say that,ok. Still suggest getting that dvd by the way,I saw it for the 1st time last week and it was incredible.
I don't think you can judge a player by watching highlights on a DVD. You need to watch a player regularely and see how he performs on consistent bases. I am not saying that Pele is not better than Ronaldo though. Just that i cannot say he is better watching only highlights.
Right,thats when the opinions of hundreds of thousands of analyst from all over the world come into effect. When you have so many respected football people all agreeing on 1 thing you know it had to be for a reason. And anyway Pelé Eterno is much more than highlights,it is a documentary about Pelé,it sets up the mood of the games before they are played,and has so many people talking about him and so on. And the highlights just top it off and is kind of like a confirmation of what everybody was saying. Like for example when Santos went to Portugal to play Benfica in the away leg of the World Club Cup,they showed how the Benfica fans had banners saying they were champions already and that it was useless to play the game,the mood was set,and then when you see Pelé tear up Benfica in perhaps his greatest performance its just all incredible. And the best thing about this is that they cleaned up the footage unbelievably so you can see everything clearly and found so many goals and highlights that have never been seen before. They also show you the violence that was used to try to control Pelé and how in those days you practically had to punch somebody in the face to get a red card. You're right it's hard to see what kind of player someone is from highlights,but this DVD is much more than that and will show you the good and bad of Pelé and more importantly it will prove to you why he is the greatest of all-time.
Auriverde! voce tem razao. O Pele e O Rei pra sempre! eu nunca posso comprender porque gente esta dizendo que Ronaldo e melhor! as coisas O Pele fez no campo do futebol ninguem vai fazer mesmo nem Ronaldo!! hey auriverde how was my portuguese good i hope! hey offer any corrections please!
Pretty good in my perspective. Easy read, i am not hot o corrections though....Elado? What country are you from?
Ronaldo always seemed like a humble sort to me. Good on him. Whenever his last match is I will be there. Come hell or high water.
IF it wasn't for his two injuries.. he would be the greatest of all time,yet, even after two major injuries, he still the best striker in the world... just amazing....
hey guys we should avoid the "what ifs". the fact is that what happened , happened! we cant judge him on that period when he was injured because there is no performance in that period to judge! all the statements like "what if he wasnt injured" are just speculation not facts so lets leave it at that!but despite all that Ronaldo is magic,Ronaldo is special,Ronaldo is unbelievable, Ronaldo is breathless ,Ronaldo is class,Ronaldo is a pimp[look at all the fine honies that hang around him yo!] and more importantly a genuinely great human being! he has a heart of gold! but he ain't Pele! even pre-injury Ronaldo cant be compared to Pele! you see Pele was the first true soccer superstar! you see all the moves that todays player have, were all invented by Pele!I love Ronnie like a brother but i have to be honest!Pele is Football but after Pele its Ronaldo hands down! Ronnie is better than Maradona by far! infact he is so much better than Diego at this point its not even funny! now instead of trying to rate players greatness by comparing them with "Pele and Maradona" players greatness should now be compared to "Pele and Ronaldo" period! the 2 greatest soccer players of all times are Pele and Ronaldo!nuff said!!! Forca Ronaldo!! forca meu imao!!!
Yeah I don't really think IFs should matter for anything. Plus with injuries, there are two sides to it. A player might display slightly less ability because they're more careful with injuries. Perhaps with style of play or lack of doping, for example. There are always two sides to IFs. Like IF Pele and Ronaldo never had injury problems, Pele would still be the greatest.
every body has injuries! what if Pele wasnt injured in wc66 , he might have had 4wc titles and leading goal scorer in world cup history but he didnt and nobody is factoring that when analyzing his greatness!same should be done for Ronnie!no ifs and buyts! facts are facts!
Though I tend to agree with not using the word "if" in regards to players with injurys,I think Ronaldo is a different situation,we have all wether we admit it or not thought about what could have been "if" Ronaldo never got injured. The main difference here is that Pelé's injury simply didn't allow him to play in WC's,Ronaldo's injury turned him into a different kind of player,less spectacular but more efficient...I think its fair to think what "if" for Ronaldo because that is a unique situation.
OMG, this pic just remind me of how great great great Ronaldo was...man look at that speed? There was no football player who were better than Ronaldo post-injury, I repeat no one, not even pele and maradona. He was the greatest ever.