Fabio Capello believes that former Brazilian striker Ronaldo would be “number one in history” if he was willing to limit his excessive lifestyle.
Capello worked with Ronaldo in Real Madrid, but increasingly frustrated by the player’s lack of self -discipline, which inevitably led to injury problems.
Until that time, Ronaldo had already suffered serious knee problems who saw his game be reduced by the explosive young striker who had undoubtedly emerged as the world’s best player during the spells with PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Inter Milan.
The relationship with Capello finally came to an endless end in January 2007, when he signed for Milan, the Brazilian departed from Santiago Bernabeu, thanking all the coaches he had in Madrid “except one”.
Injuries derailed Ronaldo’s career – Capello
Despite their fall, Capello maintains the belief that Ronaldo could be the greatest of all time.
He told El Mundo: “Without injuries and with the care of himself, he would be the number one in history, at the level of (Lionel) Messi and (Diego) Maradona.
“In one aspect (the injuries) could not and on the other (the lifestyle) did not want. There are football players that are like that.”
It was fat – Capello
Asked how he came to the decision to let him leave Madrid, Capello said: “It was fat. He didn’t want to lose weight and he liked good life.
“In addition, the worst thing was that he dragged his teammates into this life and ended up creating an even more serious problem for me.
“I gave him the choice to lose weight and behave, but he didn’t want. Outside. There is no more.”
Guy was another who could not archive – Capello
Capello said, in this respect, Ronaldo was similar to Guti, another extremely talented former Real Madrid man who probably did not hit the heights worth his talents.
“It could be anything he wanted,” he said of the former Spanish Midfielder. “I talked to him all the time and I said,“ Why don’t you sacrifice a little? Drive a right life for a while and at the age of 36, when you’ve done everything, can you devote yourself to enjoying things?
“And he replied,” Lord, you have to have a good time now before it’s too late. “There was no way to convince him.
“For players like Ronaldo or Guy, I always like to emphasize how important Raul was to Madrid. He didn’t have the pure talent of others, but he was so smart and so ambitious that it didn’t matter. He’s the footballer I want.”
