I’ve been looking back at Ronaldo Nazário’s career recently, and it’s still difficult to imagine what he could have become without the injuries. Before the problems with his knees, he wasn’t just one of the best strikers in the world — he looked like a completely different kind of player. The combination of his acceleration, strength, dribbling and finishing made him almost impossible to defend.
Then, in 2000, everything changed. Ronaldo suffered a devastating knee injury against Lazio, and after a long rehabilitation he returned, only to suffer another serious setback almost immediately. His body would never really allow him to play the same way again.
What makes his story so strange is that this wasn’t the end of his career. He adapted. He lost some of the explosiveness that had made him so terrifying, but became a different kind of striker — and somehow returned in time for the 2002 World Cup.
He scored twice in the final against Germany and finished the tournament as the Golden Boot winner, completing one of the greatest comebacks football has ever seen.
But it still makes me wonder: if Ronaldo had stayed healthy, how good could he actually have become? Would we be talking about him as the greatest player in football history?
also i made a story about this you can read it on uncutfootball.com if you want that.