Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Rio de Janeiro Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁo̞ˈnau̯du ˈlwiʑ nɐˈzaɾju dʑ ˈɫimɐ]; born 18 September 1976[1]) is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is considered by experts and fans as one of the greatest football players of all time. [2][3] In 2011, he was voted Goal.com's "Player of the Decades" in an online poll of the Spanish version of the website, gathering 29.55% of all votes.[4] He won his first Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year in 1997 and won the award again in 2002. He is one of only three men to have won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times, along with Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi.
Considered by many as the most complete striker in the past 30 years, in 2007, he was named as one of the best starting 11 of all-time by France Football and was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest footballers compiled by Pelé. In 2010, he was voted Goal.com's "Player of the Decade" in an online poll, gathering 43.63 percent of all votes[5] and was also included as centre forward in the "Team of the Decade".[6] On 23 February 2010, Ronaldo announced that he would retire after the 2011 season, signing a two-year contract extension with the Corinthians at the same time.[7]
Ronaldo has played for Brazil in 98 international matches, scoring 62 goals. He was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with his fifteenth goal, surpassing Gerd Müller's previous record of 14. He is the only player to have won the World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot in separate tournaments. Having suffered a string of serious injuries throughout his career, Ronaldo retired on 14 February 2011, citing pain and hypothyroidism as the reasons for his premature retirement.[8]