Ronaldo has already won 15 club and national team titles: Cruzeiro (Brazilian Cup in 1993 and the Minas Gerais State Championship in 1994); PSV (Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup, both in 1996); Barcelona (Spanish Cup, Spanish Super Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup, all in 1997); Inter (UEFA Cup in 1998); Real Madrid (Intercontinental Cup in 2002 and the Spanish Championship in 2003); Brazil (World Cup in 1994 and 2002, Copa América in 1997 and 1999 and the Confederations Cup in 1997).

Ronaldo was the leading marksman in the Dutch Championship in 1994/95 and 1995/96, and the Spanish Championship in 1996/97 in the colours of Barcelona and again in 2003/04, this time as a Real Madrid player. So far, Italy’s Serie A is the only European league in which he has played, in which he has not yet finished as top scorer.

Curiously, Ronaldo has so far failed to score on his debut for any of the teams he has played for: Cruzeiro 1-0 Caldense (Mineiro State Championship, 1993); Brazil 2-0 Argentina (friendly, 1994); PSV Eindhoven 0-0 Heerenveen (friendly, 1994); Barcelona 2-0 San Lorenzo-ARG (Juan Gamper Trophy, 1996); Inter Milan 1-1 Manchester United (Pirelli Cup, 1997); Real Madrid 1-1 Real Betis (Spanish Championship, 2002); AC Milan 2-1 Livorno (Italian Championship, 2007).

Ronaldo is also second in the Brazilian national team’s all-time scoring rankings, with 73 goals from 112 games. The only player with a better record is Pelé himself, who netted 95 times for his country.

To give you an idea of his phenomenal popularity, a survey in 2004 revealed that Ronaldo had the third most recognisable face on the planet. Only Pope John Paul II and US President George Bush finished ahead of him.

In 2004, as a member of the Real Madrid team known as the Galacticos, Ronaldo was the second-highest paid player in the world. Between his salary and advertising fees, he earned R$ 94 million, second only to his Real Madrid teammate David Beckham who earned R$ 97 million.

In 1996, at the age of 20, Ronaldo became the youngest player to receive the FIFA World Player of the Year award. He went on to win the award again the following year, and once more in 2002, this time after overcoming a serious injury that had sidelined him for almost a year.

From an early age Ronaldo found himself the subject of inevitable comparisons to Pelé. Like Pelé, Ronaldo competed in his first World Cup at the age of 17. By the age of 20, he was already excelling for Barcelona, boasting an average of 0.92 goals per game. At the same age, Pelé’s average was 1.07.

Ronaldo’s career was less than five years old when he was dubbed Fenômeno {the Phenomenon). The nickname came courtesy of an Italian newspaper, after he scored a hat-trick for Inter Milan against Piacenza in the Italian Cup in October 1997.

Ronaldo’s first European club were PSV Eindhoven, who signed him as a 17-year old in 1994. When he left Brazil for Holland, he became the most expensive Brazilian in the world, costing PSV a transfer fee of US$6 million.

In addition to his widely known ambition of winning the World Cup and being voted the best player in the world, before his 19th birthday, Ronaldo revealed two other dreams: to spend two years playing in the MLS in the USA, and to end his career playing for a Brazilian team.

When Brazil finished as runners-up in the 1998 World Cup, Ronaldo was selected as the tournament’s best player. Oddly enough, when the National Team won the competition in 2002, Fenômeno could only claim the Silver Ball.

Ronaldo has scored more goals in FIFA World Cups than any other player in history, with a total of 15 goals from 19 appearances. He overtook previous record holder Gerd Muller, who scored a total of 14 goals, and Frenchman Just Fontaine (13), when he added three more goals to his tally during the 2006 tournament. In 1998 he scored four goals, and in 2002 he bagged eight. Although he was also in the squad for the 1994 tournament, he did not play.

Ronaldo’s debut for Brazil came in March 1994 in a 2-0 friendly win over Argentina. He scored his first goal for the canarinha in his following outing, a 3-0 win over Iceland just under two months later.

Soon after making his professional debut, while still only 17, Ronaldo announced his credentials by scoring five goals in Cruzeiro’s 6-0 win over Bahia in the Brazilian Championship.