Adeus, Fenômeno

Up to now, Just Football has been struggling to put ‘O Fenomeno’ Ronaldo’s retirement into words truly befitting of the great man. Making his JF debut, Rodrigo Beilfuss does just that:

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima is no longer a footballer.

The man known as “The Phenomenon” officially announced his retirement at what was an emotional and deeply moving press conference on Valentine’s Day in Sao Paulo.

What made it so moving and sentimental weren’t his words, or big speeches or anything of that sort. But the simplicity of it all. The humility, sincerity and pain painted upon the face of someone who was arguably the greatest striker the modern game has seen.

Ronaldo could barely speak. With tears rolling down his cheeks, he could only state the obvious:

“I come here to announce my retirement from professional football.”

And then he went on to describe his feelings and reasons for said decision. Ronaldo talked about his long list of injuries, his constant pains and weak knees, his disappointment for not being able to help Corinthians win the Copa Libertadores this year.

Everything he said were already known facts. His words, reasons for this and that were all predictably obvious and understandable.

But the tone. The long pauses. The tears and the sheer and gut-wrenching sincerity with which he delivered his simple words were painfully beautiful.

A true living legend, three times the best player on the planet, twice World Cup winner, apologizing to the fans for not being able to win more trophies in the last couple of years.

He even had the sweet cojones to say, when talking about his weight issues, “thank you to my critics, for making me stronger”.

Once again, simple and diplomatic words (why would one try and pick a fight during a farewell speech), but the truth and melancholy in his tone were utterly devastating.

It was the tone of a tormented man. An average man, like you and me. A simple man, wearing a ridiculous shirt and summer shorts.

It is refreshing, albeit extremely painful, to witness such real qualities in a man everyone calls “the Phenomenon”.

At one point, during his speech, Ronaldo paused and turned around to check on his two boys who were sitting behind him. “Is he sleeping?”, he asked his eldest son, referring to the younger kiddo. “Yep”, the older brother replied. Ronaldo smiled, turned back to the reporters, and continued to stare at the room filled with cameras and bright lights…as if saying “what more do you want me to say? We’re done…”

Evidently, this wouldn’t have been a Ronaldo exit without some controversies. In his speech, he revealed that at Milan he was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, a condition that dramatically slows down one’s metabolism; and he mentioned that the only way for his weight to be effectively controlled would have been for him to take drugs that are considered illegal in football. In an unfortunate case of mistranslation, Twitter imploded with the news that “at Milan, Ronaldo was prescribed illegal drugs to fight weight”. Thankfully, after a few hours, all was corrected, and the good name of MilanLab (and Ronaldo) was restored.

Perhaps that was just a case of us, die hard fans at heart, unconsciously trying to find a desperate novelty about Ronaldo; trying to tell the world “hey, look, Ronaldo may be gone, but look at this, there’s news regarding him still…”

Alas, no.

There is no news about Ronaldo anymore. Even the official announcement wasn’t news.

It was just the obvious. The sensible. A miserable fact. A sad reality.

The greatest player I have had the pleasure of following in my lifetime is gone.

It isn’t surprising at all that he said goodbye. But that tone. That voice…

Parting has never been such sweet sorrow.

Thank you Ronaldo.

Ronaldo – El Fenomeno – A Career from Kevyn Doran on Vimeo.

Rodrigo Beilfuss is a new contributor to Just Football, focussing on South American football, and proud Brazilian. This post was originally published on his own blog – Futebol!

JF will have a lot more to say about the great Ronaldo – in due course…

(photo credit: nikefutebol on Flickr)

All-Time Greats, Brazil, Brazilian Football, Football in Latin America, Ronaldo