Ronaldo Nazario finally completed football this week after making his Sunday League debut.
The two-time Ballon d'Or winner turned up to Henderson Sports and Social club in a white limousine to play for Phoenix FC, who are bottom of the NWL Division 8 in Essex.
'R9', playing under the name Dave Walsh because he wasn't registered, was flown over from Sao Paulo as part of Paddy Power's 'Super Sub' campaign.
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The sight of seeing one of the best ever players playing in a boggy pitch was a surreal one but Ronaldo isn't the first Brazilian to experience the weird and wonderful world of Sunday League.
Two years ago, Ronaldo's compatriot Roberto Carlos rocked up in Shrewsbury to play for the Bull in the Barne United.
The Greenhous Shrewsbury & District Sunday Football League side managed to secure the services of the former Real Madrid man after winning a ‘Dream transfer 'raffle through eBay, with software engineer Liam Turall convincing player-manager Ed Speller to put in a cheeky £5 bid.
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ull in the Barne were picked at random and fans and media flocked to the middle of nowhere on a fresh Friday morning to see one of the greatest left-backs ever get a taste of what ‘proper football’ is really like.
They took on Harlescott Rangers from the same league in a friendly fixture in what was undoubtedly in front of a record crowd at Hanwood Village Hall Recreation Centre, which had a main stand and a makeshift commentary booth for the beloved Chris Kamara to describe the action.
Free-kick king Carlos made his grand entrance, jumping out of the back of a Land Rover in the car park before meeting his new and excited teammates.
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Carlos put on his maroon home shirt complete with his name and number on the back and joined in the warm-ups on a pitch that wasn’t quite as impressive as the Santiago Bernabeu.
He then practiced his trademark set-pieces with mixed results – wallopping one into the top corner but getting another effort horribly wrong and nearly hitting it into the nearby Primary School.
But then when it came to kick-off, Carlos was omitted from the starting XI. Turall, the man who had the idea of bidding in the competition, retained his place at left-back and so Carlos had to watch on from the bench.
Wearing his blue and yellow Adidas boots and with the biggest calves you’ve ever seen, Carlos did then enter the fray to a thunderous ovation in the first half.
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He slotted into central midfield, with the Bulls 2-0 down. They would find a way back into the game but if we’re being honest, Carlos wasn’t contributing all that much.
With his fitness levels not anywhere near as sharp as during his playing days, Carlos spent a lot of time walking about and giving the ball away cheaply
After half-time had been and gone, the two teams emerged from the tunnel but Carlos was nowhere to be seen.
It was then communicated that he was in the changing rooms receiving a massage on his knee while the game was still going on. You couldn’t write it.
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However, there was still time for Carlos to have his special moment. He was subbed back on to take a penalty and made no mistake from 12 yards, coolly rolling the ball past the goalkeeper.
The Bulls lost 4-3 but Carlos presented the Man of the Match trophy to defender Callum Bebb, took selfies and conducted a slew of post-match interviews.
“To get to the Bernabeu I had to play on pitches like this when I was younger,” he told SPORTbible when quizzed on the playing surface.
“The ball is round everywhere. It’s completely normal when you play grassroots football, that’s how you play.
“It brought back some memories from the past when I used to play. They [the team] have quality. Tactically it’s not like the pros but the most important thing is that they enjoyed themselves. It was a great day.
“I’ve never played in an English team before, now I have! I only played a little but I played.”
Carlos still had a final Sunday League tradition to participate in; a post-match pint.
A video of him sinking the beers with his colleagues while on FaceTime to Sergio Ramos went viral and was the perfect way to cap off a brilliant and bizarre day in football history.
Featured Image Credit: SPORTbibleTopics: Roberto Carlos, Brazil, Ronaldo
