Ronaldo, a giant star fell from the sky

By Darren

He is the real king in the field of soccer after Maradona. He is one of the greatest soccer players in the 20th century. He is the biggest soccer hero of Brazil since Pele. On the soccer field, he is omnipotent. He is Ronaldo who is revered by millions of fans and has been the representative of soccer. On 14th February 2011, he announced that he would retire on that day. From then on, a legend came to the end. A giant star fell from the sky. We will not see his wonderful skills and magical shooting any more. The soccer world lost a great player as well.

Ronaldo was born in Brazil in 1976 and his full name is Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima. He was a center forward and became a formal soccer player when he was 17 years old. As a player, he conquered the world because of his perfect soccer skills, mystical dribbling, wonderful shooting and the creativity on the soccer field. During the club career, he won his first Ballon d'Or which was presented to the player who had been considered to have performed the best over the previous year in European in 1997 when he aged only 21 years old and again won the award in 2002 when he was 26 years old. Additionally, he is one of only two men to have won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times, along with French footballer Zinedine Zidane. In 2007, he was named as one of the best starting eleven of all-time by France Football. During the national career, Ronaldo played for Brazil in 97 international matches, amassing 62 goals. He was a part of the Brazilian squad which won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo became the highest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup with his fifteenth goal, surpassing Gerd Müller's previous record of 14. In the field of soccer, his awards and records are countless and his performance was amazing.

Besides these skills and awards, his insistence and optimistic attitude also moved so many people. He was caught by injury jinx in his life. Two serious right-knee injuries made him stay in hospital for totally 6 years and almost cannot play soccer. However, he went out of the difficulties finally. He always said that he loved soccer, he loved his job and nothing can stop him continuing to play soccer. Because of this faith, he insisted to fight with injuries. Another feature when he was injured was that he always smiled and kept optimistic. Once he was interviewed on the television, when he was asked that how he can bear the pain and still hope to come back to play soccer, he said, “Everyday I encouraged myself to be insistent and not to give up. I smile at myself and recalled the nice things in the past so that I can forget the pain and be happy.” Although injuries were so serious, he still held the hope. Because of this point, many people started to know and like him. On the other hand, he also encouraged others to overcome difficulties. When he visited a hospital in China, he encouraged a boy who had cancer to be consistent by telling his own experiences to the boy. After that, he made a phone or sent an e-mail to the boy once a month. The boy lived 7 years longer than predicted at last. At that time, he was a spirit supporter for many people.

For me, Ronaldo is my favorite soccer player. He left many beautiful memories to me. When I was young, I started to see his play. The splendid performances made me excited and relax from the hard life. Along with age increasing, now I am not only attracted by his skills and awards but also his spirit. When I face problems, I will watch some videos of Ronaldo to recall his smile and consistence. He makes me also believe there is not any difficulty that we cannot overcome and positive attitude is the most important thing in the life. Now Ronaldo has left the soccer, but I will remember his consummate skills and his spirit forever. These things will influence my whole life. Ronaldo, wish you good luck in the future!