Fit-again Ronaldo joins Corinthians
Reuters - Tuesday 09 December 2008, 15:58
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian striker Ronaldo
has agreed to join Sao Paulo-based Corinthians after recovering
from a serious knee injury suffered last February.
"We've reached a verbal agreement for Ronaldo to play there
(Corinthians)," his agent Fabiano Farah told Reuters by
telephone on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old will join the club, who are one of Brazil's
biggest and have just won promotion back to the top flight
after one season in Serie B, for the 2009 season as he attempts
to re-ignite his career.
Corinthians confirmed negotiations were at an advanced
stage and their club shop immediately began selling Ronaldo
replica shirts in both the home and away versions.
"In the next few hours, the two sides should provide the
final formalities to close the deal and set a date for the
presentation of the athlete," said a statement on the club's
website (www.corinthians.com.br).
The shirts, costing around 170 reais ($68) each, had sold
out by the end of the afternoon, bringing in around 13,000
reais, the club said.
The announcement stunned Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo,
where Ronaldo had been training and believed were top of his
list.
"We opened our house for him and he didn't even say thank
you," said president Marcio Braga, while a group of angry fans
burned and tore up photographs of the player in front of the
club headquarters.
It will be the first time Ronaldo has played for a
Brazilian club since leaving Cruzeiro at the age of 17 in 1994
to join PSV Eindhoven.
The move comes amid scepticism as to whether Ronaldo, who
appeared to have lost his hunger for the game in the last two
years, has the motivation to continue playing at the top level.
Even before the injury, he had suffered from fitness and
weight problems and has not played for Brazil since his
much-criticised performance at the 2006 World Cup.
He had reportedly received offers from Manchester City and
Paris St Germain and his decision to return to Brazilian
domestic football may be seen as a cushy option.
TRANSVESTITE INCIDENT
Ronaldo ruptured a tendon in his left knee in a Serie A
game playing for AC Milan against Livorno in February and later
left the Italian club.
In April, he was famously involved in an incident with
three transvestites in Rio de Janeiro, having gone to a motel
with them believing they were call girls.
In October, Ronaldo said he had put on so much weight
following his injury that he was running out of clothes while
last month he told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport rehabilitation
had been tough and he was not sure he would continue playing.
Ronaldo reached his peak when he scored eight goals in the
2002 World Cup and helped Brazil win a record fifth title.
He has also played for Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real
Madrid in a career which has alternated prolific goal scoring
with the frustration and pain of long-term injuries.
Before the 2002 World Cup, he suffered two serious injuries
to his right knee which had him out of action for the best part
of two years.
He has played at three World Cups, scoring a record total
of 15 goals -- four in 1998, eight in 2002 and three in 2006.