By Chris Wright
He hasn’t played a single game since leaving Corinthians in 2011, but Ronaldo has declared his intentions of making a comeback for his newly-acquired NASL side, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
As per Monday’s announcement, Ronaldo is now a part-owner of the Florida-based team who will be competing in the NASL (i.e, the division below MLS) as of the start of next season.
When asked if he intended to play for The Strikers at his introductory press conference, Ronaldo, now 38, replied:
“That is not easy. I love to play. That was my big love, but when I retired it was because of my body.
“I had so much pain and so many injuries. It isn’t easy to get fit. I will try. I will train a lot.”
Via the odd charity game it’s obvious that Ronaldo still has the touch, but surely – surely – this one is beyond him?
Of course it may just be a PR thing to help stoke a bit of media interest in a new business venture, but this is a man who claimed to have “completely lost his body” when he called it quits at Corinthians four years ago.
Man, we’d love to see O Fenomeno back among the goals but there’s a vast chasm of difference between skinning some bloke who used to be in Hollyoaks in a charity game and actually seriously competing in a professional league.
Time to bite the bullet, we suspect.