Article
Ronaldo signs for AC Milan
ROME (AFP) - AC Milan have signed Brazil international Ronaldo from Real Madrid on an 18-month contract, the Serie A club has confirmed.
The 30-year-old striker, three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, had fallen out of favour with current Real coach Fabio Capello and returns to Serie A for a second spell having spent five years at Milan´s rivals Inter.
He will cost the Italian giants a reported 7.5 million euros.
Born in Bento Ribeiro, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ronaldo first came to prominence with Cruzeiro where he scored 58 goals in 60 appearances.
After making his international debut for Brazil at the age of 17, he left South America to join PSV Eindhoven.
In his two seasons in Holland, he scored 55 goals in 56 appearances and his astonishing figures didn´t go unnoticed across the continent, with Spanish giants Barcelona snapping him up before the start of the 1996-97 season.
Ronaldo continued to find the net with alarming regularity, scoring 39 goals in 44 appearances in his one and only season at the Nou Camp before Inter lured him to Italy for 25 million euros (32.3 million dollars).
In his first season he scored 34 goals in 47 matches before helping Brazil reach the 1998 World Cup final against hosts France.
The stage was all set for Ronaldo to shine only for a mystery illness to lay him low on the eve of the match.
After first being named as a substitute, he was then included in the starting line-up but looked a shadow of his true self as Brazil lost 3-0.
In November 1989 he ruptured his knee-cap tendon while playing for Inter and was ruled out for four months.
He made his comeback as a substitute in the Italian Cup final but just six minutes after coming on his knee gave way and he was carried off in floods of tears.
After two operations and many months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo returned to lead Brazil´s attack at the 2002 World Cup and helped them to their fifth title, netting both goals against Germany in the Yokohama final.
Soon after the final, Real Madrid declared their interest in him and he announced he wanted to leave Inter.
Inter were furious having stood by the Brazilian during his injury crisis.
After protracted talks, he left for Spain in a deal worth an estimated 45 million euros (58 million dollars).
He scored within a minute of his Real debut and went on to bag 99 goals in 164 appearances for the Spanish giants before his relationship with Capello came to a head.
Comments (0)