It is impossible to doubt the historical relevance that Ronaldo Nazário had for modern football, one of the most powerful and lethal goalscorers of the last three decades. What does seem more questionable is the position that ESPN gave him in their list of the 100 best professional athletes of the 21st century.
Every ranking is arbitrary, although it is striking that the Brazilian was placed in position 87. That is, the world champion in 1994 and 2002, runner-up in 1998 and two-time winner of the Ballon d’Or (1997 and 2002) was considered, for example, behind Georges St-Pierre, the former mixed martial arts fighter (position 76).
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The names revealed so far are the last 25 and the rest, all chosen according to statistics and the opinion of experts from the network around the world, will be announced in the coming days. While next week they will reveal the ranking of the best athletes by each discipline.
The list, released primarily by ESPN’s US subsidiary, gives a lot of relevance to popular sports in that country. Thus, in a higher position than Ronaldo are baseball players such as two-time MVP Bryce Harper and four-time WNBA champion, basketball player Sheryl Swoopes.
Another possible explanation for the position of the Brazilian forward is that the sports achievements achieved since January 1, 2000 are taken into account. So all that O Fenômeno achieved in the previous years is left out: the dozens of goals scored at Cruzeiro, PSV, FC Barcelona and his first stint at Inter Milan.
However, on the other hand, after that cut-off date the striker maintained a golden period. In 2002, he was the top scorer in the World Cup with which Brazil reached the pentacampeonato and was part of the mythical squad of the Real Madrid Galácticos along with Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl and David Beckham, among other great names.
Ronaldinho, almost out of the ranking
The list also placed Ronaldinho in 94th place, almost out of consideration for the top 100 professional athletes. In the analyzed period, the former midfielder won the 2002 World Cup and the 2005 Confederations Cup, as well as the Champions League with FC Barcelona and the Copa Libertadores with Atlético Mineiro.
