Original Ronaldo announces retirement

Brazilian striker Ronaldo has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect.

The 34-year old, who has been often cruelly described as ‘fat Ronaldo’ throughout his career, has struggled with injuries of late and said that his ‘body can’t take it any more’.

Ronaldo, who announced his retirement following Corinthians’ exit from this season’s Copa Libertadores, will go down as one of the greatest strikers to have ever played the game thanks to his displays for the likes of PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan as well as with the Brazilian national team, with whom he won two World Cups, in 1994 and again in 2002.

Ronaldo was the top scorer in the 2002 World Cup with eight goals and in 2006, he broke Gerd Muller’s all-time World Cup goalscoring record by netting his 15th tournament goal in the knockout stage against Ghana.

In February 2010, Ronaldo signed a contract extension with Brazilian side Corinthians but announced that he would retire at the end of this season due to the effect that injuries have had on his body over his career.

I can't take any more," he told Brazilian newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo.

"I wanted to continue, but I can't do it any more. I think of an action, but I can't do it the way I want to. It's time.

"It's the body that's hurting me. The head wants to go on, but the body can't take any more."

Ronaldo scored over 350 goals in his club career and 62 goals in 97 appearances for Brazil. He also won the World Player of the Year award on three separate occasions, one of only two players (Zinedine Zidane being the other) to have done so.