He holds dual citizenship with Spain. He plays as a forward for Brazil and the Spanish club Real Madrid. He has been nicknamed "The Phenomenon" (O Fen�meno in Portuguese, El Fen�meno in Spanish). Ronaldo's speed, dribbling ability and scoring instincts have made him into what many believe as one of the most complete footballers of all time. He was named by Pel� as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. Ronaldo has enjoyed success at the international level, winning the 1994 and 2002 World Cups with the Brazilian national team. Ronaldo has also won three FIFA World Player of the Year awards (1996, 1997 and 2002), a record that has since been equalled by his former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane and Birgit Prinz of Germany. Ronaldo drew equal with the record set by Gerd M�ller of 14 goals scored in the World Cup finals by scoring two goals against Japan on the 22 June 2006.

Ronaldo's footballing abilities were first recognised when he was 14. He was recommended to the Brazil youth team by World Cup winner Jairzinho, who also arranged for his own former club, Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, to sign the boy when he was old enough for a professional contract. Ronaldo scored 12 goals in 14 caps in the Brazilian National Championship, and in the Minas Gerais State Championship he scored all three goals in Cruzeiro's 3-1 victory against arch-rival Atl�tico Mineiro. He was soon transferred for US$6 million to PSV Eindhoven, and later attracted the attention of Spain's FC Barcelona. He played for Bar�a in the 1996-1997 season, scoring 34 goals in 37 appearances (47 in 49, including appearances in the Copa Del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup), then transferred to Inter Milan the following year.

Voted the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, he also scored four goals and made four assists during the 1998 World Cup. Brazil lost the final to the hosts France after he suffered a mysterious fit the night before [3]. Some questioned the decision to play Ronaldo in the final because of the possible physiological aftereffects of the fit [4]. This was the start of a career nightmare for the striker lasting nearly four years.

A year after the 1998 World Cup, he severely injured his right knee and was out of the game for several months. During his first comeback in 2000, he managed to play only seven minutes during a league game against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.

After two operations and twenty months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo managed a comeback during the 2002 World Cup in which he scored two spectacular goals against Germany in the final. Ronaldo was the top scorer of the 2002 World Cup with eight goals helping Brazil win their fifth world cup title. Later in 2002 he was awarded the title of World Player of the Year for the third time, and transferred from Inter Milan to Real Madrid for �27,000,000, after frequent disputes with Inter Milan coach H�ctor C�per. His transfer to Madrid was the subject of a media frenzy not just laced with the usual hype because of his reputation, but more so because he was now the third successive Galactico (or superstar) signed in as many years by the Spanish giants as part of their policy of signing the world's biggest superstar football players in order to maintain their levels of success whilst broadening their reaches of fame.

Ronaldo was such a well known signing that sales of his shirt on the day of his signing alone broke all records the world over. Proof of his fame came with the fact that even though Ronaldo was sidelined through injury until October 2002, fans continued to chant his name in the stands. When Ronaldo finally made his debut and scored the second of his brace, it was clear for all to see that the goalscoring Ronaldo of old had returned to club football at last. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored yet again to seal his first season with 23 league goals (not including the goals in the UEFA Champions League that included a hat-trick away at Manchester United), and most importantly, the coveted La Liga Championship title for 2003, where Ronaldo had previously failed to win whilst at FC Barcelona.