Fenomeno played in much inferior teams. He probably had a quarter of the shots on goal Cristiano had per game. Many pros consider Fenomeno as the hardest to play against and defend against:
“My favourite Brazilian footballer of all time is Ronaldo. I was fortunate enough to play against him many times, and I was lucky enough to play against him before he got those serious injuries that affected his career. He was a formidable player, a sensational player. He was sort of like an alien because of what he could do on the pitch. The fact that a footballer like him is not remembered as the best player of all time is a great tragedy in my opinion. He had all the skills he needed to be the best ever”
– Gianluigi Buffon
“The best player I have seen in my career.”
— Clarence Seedorf
“What made Ronaldo different was his sheer physical strength. He is the best I have played with.”
— Luis Figo
“Ronaldo Nazário was, without doubt, the best striker I’ve ever seen. What I saw him do was spectacular, and that was having come to the club after a World Cup and having been sidelined for two years before that with a knee injury.”
— Michel Salgado
“I was in Spain when he was playing for Barcelona, and I can tell everybody that he was one of the best. He was impossible to mark, he had an acceleration that made him difficult to stop, he was scoring goals for fun, he was doing things that the rest couldn’t do. He was the special player during my time in Spain.”
— Gus Poyet
Ronaldo, the phenomenon, was the greatest player I have ever coached
–Fabio Capello
The best player I have ever played with? That’s Ronaldo, il Fenomeno. I have seen il Fenomeno do things that nobody else has ever done
– Kaka
I’ve never seen a player able to show such precise control at such a high speed. Watching him was like watching a character in a video game.”
— Marcel Desailly
Without hesitation, Ronaldo is the best player I ever played with. He had such an ease with the ball. He is number one. Every day I trained with him, I saw something different, something new, something beautiful. That’s what makes the difference between a very good player, and the exception, who, for me, is Ronaldo
– Zinedine Zidane
When I was younger, the way the Brazilian Ronaldo played had an influence on me. For me he’s the best striker and the best player of all-time. I watch videos of him, and try to do what he does, but it’s not easy. It’s impossible to pull off the same moves as he did
– Karim Benzema
“The worst experience I ever had was playing against Ronaldo when we faced Internazionale in the 1998 UEFA Cup Final in Paris. He’s an incredible player. I have watched that game on video so many times since then, trying to work out what I did wrong. We lost 3-0 but I don’t think now it was my fault. Ronaldo was simply unstoppable. He is so quick he makes everyone else look as if they are standing still.”
–Alessandro Nesta
Most of those players played/coached Cristiano as well. Even teammates in the national team like Figo always had Fenomeno in higher regard.
Bruno Alves was fantastic, probably our second best player after Ronaldo.
