Ronaldo was born in Bento Ribeiro, a poor neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Like many of his friends, he began to play football in the streets of his neighborhood. Ronaldo's actual date of birth is September 18, 1976, however, his father did not register his birth certificate until September 22, 1976 so some discrepancy has existed as to his actual birth date.
In April 1999, Ronaldo married Milene Domingues. The marriage lasted four years and ended in divorce. The couple had a son, Ronald (born 2000). In 2005, Ronaldo got engaged to Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli, who became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage; their relationship lasted 3 months after their engagement. He ended his relationship with Brazilian supermodel Raica Oliveira in December 2006. Writer Andrew Downie asserted a correlation between Ronaldo's personal life and performance on the pitch, noting that his most prolific periods of goalscoring have coincided with the times when he was happily married.
In 2005, Ronaldo became co-owner of A1 Team Brazil, alongside Brazilian motorsports legend Emerson Fittipaldi. The team participates in the A1 Grand Prix series, with Nelson Piquet, Jr., Tony Kanaan and João Paulo Oliveira as drivers for the debut season.
In April 1999, Ronaldo married Milene Domingues. The marriage lasted four years and ended in divorce. The couple had a son, Ronald (born 2000). In 2005, Ronaldo got engaged to Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli, who became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage; their relationship lasted 3 months after their engagement. He ended his relationship with Brazilian supermodel Raica Oliveira in December 2006. Writer Andrew Downie asserted a correlation between Ronaldo's personal life and performance on the pitch, noting that his most prolific periods of goalscoring have coincided with the times when he was happily married.
In 2005, Ronaldo became co-owner of A1 Team Brazil, alongside Brazilian motorsports legend Emerson Fittipaldi. The team participates in the A1 Grand Prix series, with Nelson Piquet, Jr., Tony Kanaan and João Paulo Oliveira as drivers for the debut season.
On 21 November 1999, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the pitch. Medical exams after the match confirmed that the striker had ruptured a tendon in his right knee and would require surgery. During his first comeback on April 12, 2000, he played only seven minutes during the first leg of the coppa italia final against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.
After two operations and 20 months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002 he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid for approximately €39,000,000, after frequent disputes with Inter coach Héctor Cúper. 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. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored 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 - in which Real Madrid still lost 4-3 away but proceeded 6-5 on aggregate.) and the La Liga Championship title for 2003, which Ronaldo had previously failed to win whilst at FC Barcelona.
After two operations and 20 months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002 he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid for approximately €39,000,000, after frequent disputes with Inter coach Héctor Cúper. 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. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored 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 - in which Real Madrid still lost 4-3 away but proceeded 6-5 on aggregate.) and the La Liga Championship title for 2003, which Ronaldo had previously failed to win whilst at FC Barcelona.
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