Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian Ronaldo are not related to each other. These two famous players just share the renowned name Ronaldo in the game.
One is the phenomenon from Brazil, Ronaldo. And the other one is the mercurial Portuguese, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Both of these players are considered the greatest of the greats thanks to their feats and achievements in the game. These players are regarded as one of if not the best players of their time and maybe forever. These players defined the generation in which they played.
Thanks to these players, many around the globe love the beautiful game. They are responsible for taking the game to new heights in terms of its popularity and admiration worldwide.
Those new to the game might often confuse these two players; some even think the two are the same person.
The Brazilian Phenomenon Ronaldo
Brazilian Ronaldo was a Phenomenon as the name itself suggests. Ronaldo was a force to be reckoned with since his early years as a player.
Of the two Ronaldo we are covering today, the Brazilian came way before. R9, as his followers revere him is considered to be one of the if not the best strikers the game of football has ever seen grace its pitch.
Ronaldo started his footballing journey spending around three years with São Cristóvão until he moved to Cruzeiro. Before joining Cruzeiro, however, he also had other offers from top Brazilian clubs like Botafogo and Sao Paulo. However, his agents were not into it.
The one team Ronaldo wished to join was his favorite team, Flamengo. But Flamengo passed on the opportunity to sign the young Ronaldo because he could not join their practice due to his inability to afford the bus fare to reach the training ground. Ronaldo excelled with Cruzeiro, and his abilities and techniques started gaining attention and appreciation. He was a great striker, notching in 44 goals from 47 appearances. He was then quickly bought off by the Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven. With PSV and a changed scenario, Ronaldo was still the same, netting 54 goals in 57 appearances.
With his scintillating performances, Europe’s top dogs were after him, and FC Barcelona snatched him with a record transfer fee of $19.5 million ahead of Inter Milan. Ronaldo was with a new club. However, his prowess remained the same. Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 outings and a very mesmerizing fashion.
Ronaldo was with Barcelona for just a year. Due to some issues surrounding the contract, Inter Milan saw it as an opportunity and pounced upon it to get Ronaldo away from Barcelona. Thus, another transfer record was broken when Inter Milan paid $27 million to bring Ronaldo to Italy.
Ronaldo had a very successful spell at Inter, where he spent five years of his career. He won his first Ballon d’Or while at Inter. However, at Inter Milan he started having knee issues which would haunt him forever. After five successful but Injury-ridden years at Inter, Ronaldo then moved to Real Madrid to join the Galacticos project.
Ronaldo spent another five years in Madrid, winning his second Ballon d’Or and other awards.
Later on, he would also go on to feature for AC Milan and he ended his career with Corinthians. He retired from professional football in 2011.
Internationally, he is one of the most successful Brazilian players. He earned 98 Caps for the Brazilian National Football Team and has scored 62 goals for his country. He was the top scorer in World Cup history with 15 goals until Miroslav Klose passed him with the 16th goal at the 2014 world.
Ronaldo also was the protagonist in Brazil’s 2002 world cup win and was their leading player in the 1998 world cup, where he guided Brazil to the finals, where they lost to Zidane and France. Moreover, he was also part of the team that won the 1994 World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo Is A Leading Man For Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo is the leading man for Portugal and has been for what seems like forever. Ronaldo is considered one of the Greatest players of all time.
Cristiano Ronaldo was named after the then US president Ronald Reagan as Cristiano's father was a great admirer of Reagan as an actor.
Now 37 years old, Ronaldo started his footballing career very young, joining a couple of teams in his hometown before moving on to the youth academy of Sporting CP. When he was with Sporting CP, they had a friendly match against Manchester United.
During the game, Ronaldo was so impressive and so elusive that the Manchester United players urged their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson to sign the youngster. Manchester United lost to Sporting 3-1 in that game.
Hence, it was then Manchester United bought Ronaldo for £12.24 million. Sir Alex had declared then that Ronaldo was among the most exciting young players he had seen. Ronaldo made his United debut with Bolton in 2003.
In his six years at Manchester United, Ronaldo grew as a player and matured as a person. His stint with Manchester United was fruitful as he won almost everything with them collectively and his first Ballon d'Or in 2008.
Real Madrid purchased Ronaldo for a then-world-record fee of £80 million in 2009. While at Real Madrid, Ronaldo became one of the greatest players the world has ever seen and he was the main protagonist in Real Madrid's four champions league win in 5 years, including the three-peat. He became the top goal scorer in champions league history during his time in Spain.
He also won his other four Ballon d'Or awards while at Real Madrid. He would stay at Real Madrid for nine very successful and trophy-laden years, during which time, they had to compete directly with Lionel Messi led all-conquering FC Barcelona side.
After Madrid, Ronaldo played for Italian giants Juventus for three years winning two Serie A among other trophies. He was most recently part of Manchester United for his second stint there. However, he is now a free agent after the explosive interview with Piers Morgan. Currently, he is focused on going on the deep run at the World Cup with Portugal.
For Portugal, Ronaldo has appeared in 194 games and during this period, he has netted 118 goals, which is the highest number of international goal ever by anyone in history. With Portugal, Ronaldo won UEFA Euro Cup in 2016 and the Nations League award in the 2018-2019 season. He is the best footballer to come out of Portugal and has led his nation to many tournaments as a proud captain and a leader.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players to have ever played the game; for some fans, he is the best. He is the greatest goal-scorer certainly in modern football if not ever already. He sits at the table when we discuss the greatest of the greats.
Brazilian Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo are Not Related
The two legends of the game Brazilian Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo are not related to each other in any way.
Apart from having the same name, they have nothing much in common regarding the family ties.
We can say that what they have in common is that both these gentlemen speak Portuguese, as Brazil used to be the colony of the Portuguese empire back in the day. And due to that, they might have some cultural similarities and also the fact that both are outstanding players. Both are legends of the game and the greats who left their mark in Spain with Real Madrid.
