THIS STORY WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 18TH SEPTEMBER, 2017
The original Ronaldo, 'R9' turns 41 today and gives us any excuse to spend the watch watching compilations of him ripping it up in his pomp.
In five years at Real Madrid, the two-time Ballon d'Or winner scored 104 goals in 177 games, while his spells at PSV, Barcelona and AC Milan often produced golden moments, but the peak of his powers were on show at I Nerazzurri.
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La Beneamata was the home of the cherished one.
The Brazilian had it all. Pace, power, finishing and skill - he was simply unstoppable week in and week out.
For those unfortunate enough to have missed out on the great Ronaldo, here's a two minute compilation of O Fenômeno's incredible ability during those glory days at Inter:
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Watching Ronaldo display innate quick feet and supreme dribbling in the above clips only makes it more baffling that he hasn't been given five-star skills in FIFA 18.
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The two-time World Cup winner hasn't been involved in the game for a number of years but has made a return, serving as the poster player for the newly introduced FUT Icons - and being front and centre for the 'Icon edition' of the game that fans are able to purchase and play with him for five games on Ultimate Team.
Image: EA Sports
As is the case with the rest of the star-studded list of 'Icons', which features the likes of David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Pele and Diego Maradona to name a few, there are three different versions of Ronaldo Nazario and they all look an absolute joy to play with.
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You've got the 90-rated early Ronaldo, when he was making waves at PSV after signing from Cruzeiro in 1994, the sublime Barcelona/Inter Milan version of R9 from 1997, which is 96 rated - and then the 94-rated 2002 World Cup Ronaldo, featuring that atrocious hairstyle.
Images: Fut Wiz
As tasty as all three cards are though, none come with a five-star skills. It's utterly absurd that R9, one of the most skilful players ever to play the game, and a man who left the very best defenders in his wake in a glittering career at the top level, hasn't been given the honour of having five-star skills this year.
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The fact that in his last appearance on the game, a striker playing for Corinthians at the end of his career in FIFA 11, he possessed five-star skills and five-star skills, makes it even more bizarre.
It's poor from EA. Here's hoping it gets addressed in due course.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football News, Internazionale, Football, Ronaldo, Brazil