24 years ago, the news of a serious injury to the best footballer on the planet hit the world! Ronaldo faced the biggest opponent of his career to date

In his time, Ronaldo was one of the players who entertained the football world with incredible skills. Many say that if it wasn’t for his serious injuries, he would be remembered as the greatest player in football history. So let us recall the day this well-oiled goal machine stuttered.

As a teenager, Ronaldo was already teaching football in Europe

Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima is one of the football Gods who walked the football lawns. Today’s generation associates the name “Ronaldo” with the Portuguese star Cristiano. But those who watched football at the turn of the century can tell of the uniqueness of the Brazilian ‘Phenomenon’.

As a teenager, he left his native country and set out to conquer Europe with his footballing prowess. His first European steps were in the Netherlands, where he taught football at the age of just 17 for PSV Eindhoven.

In the Netherlands, he tore apart opposing defences and scored goals like a treadmill. It was no wonder that the biggest clubs in Europe started to look for him. Eventually, after two years in Eindhoven, he moved to sunny Catalonia, where he was snapped up by the famous Barcelona under Bobby Robson.

At Barcelona he absolutely shocked and became the best player on the planet. His 47 goals in 49 games took the footballing world by storm, and week after week the fans looked forward to seeing what footballing skills the still only 20 year old youngster would impress them with.

After a memorable season at Barcelona, he moved to Inter Milan

However, he stayed at Barcelona for just one season before moving to Inter Milan for a then-record €30 million due to a failure to agree on a new contract. And his star began to shine in Italy.

During his first season in the blue and black jersey, he won the UEFA Cup with the team and became Serie A Footballer of the Year with 25 goals. In the same year, he also won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.

After the season, he then wowed the world at the World Cup in France. Ronaldo gave an incredible performance and became the best player of the whole tournament. However, the day before the final against hosts France , he collapsed in his room and was a mere shadow of the player who had terrified opposing defences in the match.

But a third season at Inter Milan was devastating for the Brazilian magician. It was on 21 November 1999, in a home Serie A match against Lecce, that fans saw their team’s six-goal cannonade at the San Siro, with Ronaldo scoring once.

But in Italy, he was struck down by an injury that stopped the by then perfectly lubricated machine

But the Brazilian striker terrified everyone present when he went down just minutes after scoring his goal. Ronaldo’s painful grimace went around the world and a moment of football hell began for the Brazilian striker.

A torn cruciate ligament in his right knee and a break from football for several months. Unfortunately, a few months eventually turned into a few years, as Ronaldo recovered the same injury in the Italian Cup final just five months after the fateful match against Lecce and didn’t see the pitch again until 2002.

But that’s when he wrote one of the greatest stories in football history, returning to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He won gold medals with Brazil and was the best player of the tournament. But who knows how his career would have unfolded had it not been for his lingering knee injuries.

Source: Transfermarkt, Wikipedia, Twitter/X