The AC Milan striker is facing early retirement after suffering a horrific injury last month, Robert Redmond asks could this be the final setback in the Brazilian’s rollercoaster career?

During last month’s Serie A game between AC Milan and Livorno,
Ronaldo was only on the pitch three minutes before he fell awkwardly
when attempting an aerial challenge.

As soon as he hit the ground the striker let out a painful scream
and began frantically grabbing his left knee, before he was carried off
the pitch, in obvious agony, crying with his head in his hands.
The
forward had ruptured a tendon in his left knee, an injury that can take
at least nine months rehabilitation. Milan coach, Carlo Ancelotti,
doesn’t seem confident about Ronaldo’s chances of playing again.

Ancelotti said: “I don’t want to say it’s the end of his career
because only time can decide — all we can do is stand by him.” The
striker had surgery on his knee the following day in Paris.
And when
asked if the Brazilian would play again, Gerard Saillant, the surgeon
who performed the operation, said; “His return to action will depend
not only on how his recuperation goes but also on his motivation.”

However in recent seasons motivation isn’t a term one would
associate with Ronaldo. The former Real Madrid, PSV and Barcelona
striker has struggled to stay fit and has been unable to reproduce the
form that made him the deadliest striker in the world.

This time ten years ago Ronaldo was playing for Inter Milan,
averaging almost a goal a game and despite only been 21, he’d already
been crowned FIFA World Player of the Year twice. That year Brazil
arrived at the World Cup in France as the clear favourites to retain
the trophy, and Ronaldo was their most important player.

The huge pressure proved too much for both Brazil and Ronaldo and
the seemingly unstoppable samba stars lost 3-0 in the final to hosts
France. However the game was overshadowed by the events prior to
kick-off. Ronaldo suffered a stress related fit and a seizure and was
originally left out of the team, only to be reinstated 40 minutes
before kick off.

Four years later, at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea, the
Brazilians weren’t even among the favourites to win the tournament, yet
they won their fifth title, with Ronaldo in amazing form. The striker
finished as the tournament’s top scorer, with eight goals, and appeared
to lay the demons of the previous finals to rest.
What made his feat
even more impressive was that he’d just returned from injury, following
20 months on the sidelines. Ronaldo capped an amazing year by sealing a