Can anyone think of anyone that was good as Ronaldo that year?? He won every personal award. Every goal he scored i was amazed with they were all either like Micheal Owen's goal against Argentina or with Bergkamp's control in the box.

I have never seen anybody make such an impact in their first year. Especailly considering that Italy is widely known to be the most intense and brutally tough league in the world.

you talking 97/98 season? haha what about the game where he dived for a pk?, (vs Brescia? I forget) about 3 weeks before end of season, everyone was saying that Inter was getting help from the referees after that incident.

Ronaldo's best season was 96/97 with Barcelona.

All considered his first season with Inter could be considered a disappointment as they failed to win the league, and then of course the injuries started.

Impact? Ronaldo? The only impact he made was in the Nike TV Ads. How about that World Cup performance? What has he done lately? He should have stayed at Barcelona then maybe his career would still be worth talking about.

You mean commercially of course. I think the impact was just a case of mistaken identity ....... with bugs bunny.

I`d name the players that made a bigger impact but i plan on leaving the computer sometime this year.

Shevchenko this year, definitiveley. Vieri for Lazio last year. Veron for Lazio this year. Stop hyping that stupid prick, all he does is getting heaps of cash for warming seats with his butt.

Maradonna.

Sorry I read the question wrong. Maradonna was years ago, but what an impact!
Go Napoli! (in Serie B)

in his first game Ronaldo was put in the back seat after a younger Alvaro "el chino" Recova outshined him scoring two awesom goals giving Inter a tie !!! Also iVAN ZAMORANO who was in bench would play better than him thats why this year he got his #9 back...All in all Maradona is da man....took lowly Napoli too the top.Ronaldo is surounded by top notch talent and he still cant win ****....he is good but he is overted...This is my theory why Ronaldo now sucks...During the Copa America when Ronaldinho Gaucho was kicking ass Pele said that he would protect this player and not let no body give him some sort of vitamins that would increase his body mass because he says that this is what happened to Ronaldo and his knees cant support the excess wait that is why he is now having all those surgeries and problems with his ligaments...

Well Edoardo I think there might be something to your and Pele's theory about Ronaldo and his "vitamins". I read an article about american football players and how certain performance enhancing drugs make players more susceptible to ligament damage etc.

I just wonder what percentage of players use these "vitamins" and "diet supplements", I bet its a lot.

PolishPower
I wouldn't bet against ya!

hey fifafreak if u cant appreciate ronaldo's class then ur only looking at part ov the picture - but thats ur choice

ronaldo is unique and awesome

hey fifafreak if u cant appreciate ronaldo's class then ur only looking at part ov the picture - but thats ur choice

ronaldo is unique and awesome

The gentle giant from the 50's known as John Charles had a huge impact in Italy. Massive impact, check him out.

Did you all forget about
EL MATADOR?

Um, John Charles, Nordahl, Platini, Van Basten,- broaden your history a little. Ronaldo scored many great goals that year but he also scores on a lot of penalty kicks his teamates earn. He has one of the lowest work-rates of any striker in top flight football. He needs the ball given to him at his feet or he mopes around and watches everyone else play. It's remarkable to me how the media can create someone to be so much more than they actually are. Batistuta has been dominant for almost a decade now, while Ronaldo has only had a few good seasons, and yet, Ronaldo is a huge household name around the world. In time Marcio Amoruso will be seen as better than him, as will Crespo, Shevchenko, and Jardel- if he ever moves to Italy.

I think the lesson we should take with Ronaldo is: Ronaldo+Nike= Hype



[This message has been edited by Vexapor (edited 12-21-1999).]

Okay you have all obviously missed the point of this message. I for one agree that Ronaldo is no longer the best striker in the world. But his first year in Italy no one going as far back as the Great Maradonna has made such an impact. From just a decent team to second place. They would have one if he was given a deserved penalty in a tie to Juve.

Ronaldo had the most goals that year in Italy and one all the awards he could. I know he scored 25 in the league that year and had an additional 10 or so in the Italian Cup in addition to winning a UEFA Cup.

So those of you who cant understand the message understand this: I dont care about whether you like or dislike Ronaldo, can you think of anyone who has made an impact in their first year in Italy??

I think maybe Maradonna thats its.

From recent memory I think George Weah, when he moved from PSG to AC Milan made pretty big impact, scored many great goals( I think 15 or 16 can't remember for sure) that were always replayed by RAI, plus his team won the title that year(95/96). He also won the European footballer of the year and FIFA player of the year.

Also dont make it sound like Inter were crap the year before Ronaldo got there, they got to UEFA cup final the previous season, plus already had many great players like Djorkaef, Zamorano, Ince,etc.

Ronaldo probably made his biggest impact in one season in 94-95 and 95-96 when he was with PSV Eindhoven, he scored so many what really were beautiful goals. he was devastating with Luc Nilis up front. But as we know, the Dutch competition gets little attention apart from in The Netherlands, and as no-one saw Ronaldo's brilliant talent, he moved to Barca, where he scored some great goals too, but at PSV I think I saw him at his best until this day.

Juninhio,

I apologize- I misunderstood your question. Sometimes I read this forum when I'd be better of going to sleep.