Universally recognized as “R9” or “Original Ronaldo”, Ronaldo Nazário is widely seen as the most talented footballer of his generation. And, sadly, as a player who could have become the greatest of all time if his career hadn’t been plagued by incessant injuries.
Ronaldo was part of the initial wave of Galáctico transfers, signing from Serie A giants Internazionale for €46m in 2002.
One of the Brazilian’s many fine performances in a Los Blancos shirt came at the Theater of Dreams, to the detriment of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad stuck in a transition period.
During the season immediately following his move to Madrid, Ronaldo faced United in the Champions League quarter-finals. Madrid won the first leg 3-1 at the Bernabéu.
Ahead of his latest documentary, Ronaldo spoke to The Daily Mail about his flawless performance in the second leg. United won the match 4-3 and was ultimately eliminated 5-6 on aggregate, but Ronaldo scored all three goals for the away team.
The football icon was asked about the standing ovation he received from the Old Trafford crowd when he was substituted off the pitch.
“It was a special night,” Ronaldo recalled. “I came out of that game in love with the United fans because I got that recognition after such a tough loss for them and they did it like it was normal.
“I have the photo in my house when I leave the field and you can see the fans applauding in the background, it’s a beautiful photo”.
In addition, the former striker was asked about who was the best player of all time. Asked by The Guardian who is better between Argentine greats Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona, Ronaldo dodged the question and instead revealed his own ‘best of’ list.
“I think there is a very, very special group where you have Diego, Messi, [Johan] cruyff, [Franz] Beckenbauer, Pele, [Marco] Van Basten, Ronaldinho.
“I would include myself. Let the fans say, let them debate it in the bars. But you can’t rank them, you can’t compare generations.”
There is no place for top United players like Cristiano Ronaldo or George Best in the R9 book.
The documentary ‘The Phenomenon’ about Ronaldo’s career will premiere this week on DAZN.
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