Former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello has recounted how Brazilian legend Ronaldo de Lima made life difficult for him while at the Santigo Bernabeu.
The Italian born tactician managed Los Blancos twice – first in the 1996-97 and 2006-2007 campaigns – winning La Liga titles for them on both occasions.
Ronaldo was known for his partying lifestyle and nobody could stop him for that but went beyond limits after plunging the dressing room with alcohol some of the time.
The two-time FIFA World Cup winner played under the former England and Russia handler for about six months towards the end of his reign at the Spanish club
A foriegn press outfit report that Capello regarded the striker as the ‘greatest talent’ he has ever coached, despite his wayward lifestyle.
The publication added that the player’s attitude was responsible for leaving Real in January 2007 and headed for AC Milan.
Capello also recalled how Ronaldo returned from an injury massively overweight, saying in 2018: “I was in charge at Real, he came back from an injury and came to us in November to restart.
“He weighed 96 kilos, boxing stuff. I asked him how much he weighed when he won the World Cup [in 2002] and he said 84kg, so I asked him to at least get to 88kg.
“It was a shame, he didn’t want to make the smallest sacrifice and the best he managed was 94kg. He played three games in partnership with Ruud van Nistelrooy and we lost all three.”
Ronaldo managed to score just four goals in 13 appearances under Capello before being offloaded to Italy.
He was said to have left the Italian manager out of his vote of thanks while exiting the Spanish League giants.
He said: “I would like to thank the fans who’ve supported me all this time and thank all the team-mates that I’ve had here and all the coaches I’ve had – except one.”
In response, Capello said: “I wish him the best of luck in doing what he used to do, which is being a great player.”
Ironically, despite winning the league title that season, Capello was sacked in June 2007 because of his pragmatic style of football.
Bioreports earlier reported that former Manchester United star Mikael Silvestre has insisted that Cristiano Ronaldo should never be compared to Brazilian legend Ronaldo de Lima.
The 42-year-old former defender who also spent a couple of years at Arsenal played alongside both forwards at club and country levels.
Silvestre was Cristiano’s teammate at Old Trafford while he played with the former Barcelona and Inter Milan star at the national team level.