Ronaldo

Cruzeiro

Ronaldo quickly attracted attention from big clubs, and his agents rejected offers from Botafogo and São Paulo. He was turned down by Flamengo, the team he supported as a boy, after missing practice due to an inability to afford the fare for the hour-long bus ride. Jairzinho saw Ronaldo's potential and helped get him a move to Cruzeiro. Ronaldo's agents accepted an offer of €50,000 from the club, and he scored four goals on his youth team debut. Three months after arriving at Cruzeiro, Ronaldo made his professional debut on 25 May 1993 against Caldense in the Minas Gerais State Championship. His first senior goal came in a friendly during a tour of Portugal, scoring a goal against Belenenses and generally impressing new coach Carlos Alberto Silva, enough to become a first team regular. During the tour, his performance against Porto impressed enough that they bid $500,000, which was turned down by club president César Masci. Upon returning from the 1993 summer tour, he would score 20 goals in 21 games for Cruzeiro until the end of the year. On 5 October 1993 he scored his first senior career hat-trick against Chilean side Colo-Colo (6–1) in the first home leg of the Supercopa Libertadores. He scored two more in the second leg, further three against Uruguayan team Nacional, and finished as the tournament's top-scorer with 8 goals, being the youngest to do so in the history of the Supercopa Libertadores. On 7 November 1993 he came to national public attention…

Ronaldo made his international debut for Brazil on 23 March 1994 in a friendly match in Recife against Argentina. His first senior goal for Brazil came on 4 May 1994 in a 3–0 friendly win against Iceland. He went to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States aged 17, but did not play as Brazil went on to win the tournament. He stated he was "overjoyed" at the experience. He was then known as Ronaldinho ("little Ronaldo" in Portuguese), because Ronaldo Rodrigues de Jesus, his older teammate, was also called Ronaldo and later nicknamed Ronaldão ("big Ronaldo") to further distinguish them. Another player, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, now widely known as Ronaldinho, was called Ronaldinho Gaúcho when he joined the Brazil team in 1999.

Atlanta '96 and Copa América

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ronaldo used the name Ronaldinho again, since centre-back Ronaldo Guiaro, two years his senior, was one of his teammates. Brazil went on to win the bronze medal. Ronaldo also represented Brazil in the 1995 Copa América (finishing second) and won both the 1997 and the 1999 editions of the tournament. He was named player of the tournament in 1997, was the top scorer in 1999 and scored in the finals of both, against Bolivia in 1997 and Uruguay in 1999. He also took part in the friendly Tournoi de France in 1997, preceding the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring a goal as Brazil became runners-up. Ronaldo starred alongside Romário, dubbed the Ro-Ro attack, at the 1997 FIFA…

Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most complete forwards of all time. Nicknamed Il (or O) Fenomeno (the phenomenon), he was a prolific goalscorer, and despite being more of an individualistic attacker, he was also capable of providing assists for his teammates, due to his vision, passing and crossing ability. He was an extremely powerful, fast, and technical player, with excellent movement, as well as being a composed finisher. Highly regarded for his technical ability, Ronaldo was able to use both feet, despite being naturally right footed, and is considered one of the most skillful dribblers in the game. Ronaldo would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal, with Rob Smyth writing, "he played like every attack had a 10-second deadline.. he would explode into life with no warning for defenders." He frequently beat several players when dribbling at speed, and excelled in one on one situations, due to his ball control, acceleration, agility, balance and nimble footwork in his prime. His coach at Barcelona, Bobby Robson, commented: "Ronaldo could start from the halfway line and the whole stadium would ignite. He was the fastest thing I've ever seen running with the ball. Had he managed to stay free of injury, he had every chance of becoming the best footballer ever." In one on one situations, Ronaldo often used elaborate feints to trick and beat defenders and goalkeepers; he popularised the use of many football tricks…

Barcelona

Born in Sant Jaume dels Domenys, Tarragona, Catalonia, Bartra joined Espanyol as a child before moving to Barcelona's youth system, La Masia, at age 11. After progressing through its ranks, he was promoted to the B side in 2009. Bartra made his first-team debut on 14 February 2010, coming on as a substitute for Jeffrén Suárez for the final 30 minutes of a 2–1 loss to Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. He started his first La Liga game one year and three months later, playing the entire 0–0 home draw against Deportivo de La Coruña, and scored his first goal on 21 May 2011 to help them come from behind to win 3–1 at Málaga in the season's last round. In the 2012–13 campaign, Bartra joined the first team squad permanently, but manager Tito Vilanova tended to field Javier Mascherano, Alex Song and Adriano ahead of him, and only appeared in 16 matches in all competitions. He signed a new three-year contract in March 2014. On 16 April 2014, in the final of the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid, with five minutes remaining, Gareth Bale outsprinted Bartra from the halfway line – with the former running off the field at one point – before scoring the 2–1 winner. He himself had levelled the score midway into the second half from a Xavi corner kick. Bartra remained a third or fourth choice under new manager Luis Enrique. He made 25 appearances and scored once as the team won the treble in 2014–15.

Borussia Dortmund

On 3 June 2016, Bartra was…

Bartra won 37 caps for Spain across all youth levels, including 16 for the under-21s. He made his debut for the full side on 16 November 2013, playing the entire 2–1 friendly win in Equatorial Guinea. This game was later annulled by FIFA as they had not been notified early enough that the referee would be from Equatorial Guinea, and his first valid appearance took place on 8 September 2014 as he came on as a 68th-minute substitute for Sergio Ramos in a 5–1 home victory against Macedonia for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers. In May 2016, Bartra was named in Vicente del Bosque's provisional squad of 25 for Euro 2016, and he also made it to the final list of 23. As the tournament held in France ended at the round of 16, he was an unused member. Bartra scored the only goal for his country on 11 October 2018, contributing to a 4–1 friendly defeat of Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

Bartra is known for his pace and passing. He is mentally strong, is skilled in the air and is able to play as a right-back, where he can cut in and assist.

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima was born on 18 September 1976 in Itaguaí as the third child of Nélio Nazário de Lima Sr. and Sônia dos Santos Barata. Ronaldo has a brother, Nélio Jr. His parents separated when he was 11, and Ronaldo dropped out of school shortly afterward to pursue a career in football. He played on the streets of Bento Ribeiro, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. His mother states: "I always found him on the street playing ball with friends when he should have been in school. I know, I lost my battle." His first futsal team was Valqueire Tenis Clube, and then he joined the Social Ramos futsal team at the age of twelve leading the city's youth league in scoring with a record 166 goals in his first season which included scoring 11 of his team's 12 goals in a single game. Crediting futsal for developing his skills, Ronaldo has said, "futsal will always be my first love." His coach from Social Ramos, Alirio Carvalho, says: "What was special about Ronaldo was his attitude. It was as if he had come from the moon. Nothing disturbed him, nothing overawed him, nothing threw him off his game." Spotted by former Brazilian player Jairzinho, who was coaching São Cristóvão, Ronaldo played for the São Cristóvão youth team. Under the guidance of coach Alfredo Sampaio, he progressed quickly through the ranks, playing for the clubs' under-17 and under-20 teams while only 15. Ronaldo's agents in Brazil, Reinaldo Pitta and Alexandre Martins, signed him as a 13-year-old. Pitta stated: "We…

Bartra's fraternal twin brother, Èric, also came through La Masia. He started a relationship with Grand Prix motorcycle racing journalist Melissa Jiménez in February 2014, and welcomed daughter Gala on 18 August of the following year; in January 2022, the couple announced that they had been separated for months and were in the process of getting divorced.