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Ronaldo, Injuries And Overweight Clouded His Stardom
By Marshall Smith

It seems Ronaldo is lacking leadership on Brazil's national squad lately as Dunga, their current coach, has opted for other forwards. This is mostly due to all the critics generated due to his performance at the world cup.

Even before the world cup started, many people were asking for Ronaldo to be dropped and to this he responded that he has always being called to the team by merit and not because of his fame.

"My future in the team will always depend on the coach, if I deserve to be there, I'm sure he will pick me and I will play with pride and pleasure" he said.

Ronaldo is also facing a hard time with his lack of participation with his club, the Real Madrid and the fact that he could not moved to the Calcio as he expected due to negotiation problems, but the player does not let this affect him:

"I never wanted a guaranteed place in the team; I always wanted to win my place. If I won my place at someone else's expense, it was because I played better and scored more goals, not because I did something underhand." He said.

He also said that he do not have a problem by accepting a place on the bench, after all, the competition is tough with many good scorers wishing to be called to Brazil's first team, when he was

asked about this, he said: "Yes, I would accept it, certainly. Nobody has, nor has ever had, a guaranteed place, all the great players have sat on the bench and this doesn't diminish anyone."

One could say that injuries are mostly responsible for his recent luck as he had to go through a minor operation to clean up his left knee after the World Cup, but the soon 30 year old player has also been severely criticized due to his overweight, to what he responded:

"It's simple; I got injured with five matches of the domestic season to go. I underwent treatment but I couldn't run, when I reported for the national team, I was cured but I hadn't trained, an exaggerated optimism was created. It was certainly a failure and we all accept our blame for that, but it was nothing more than that. It wasn't a lack of effort, like I've heard people saying. That's an injustice."

Ronaldo is confident on getting back his starter spot with Real Madrid: "I made a bet with Roberto Carlos and the president of the club that I would score 30 goals this season and I expect to win," he said.

About the author:Marshall Smith is an informative writer and specialist in the football betting industry who currently comments on the latest events on all major sports for http://www.instantactionsports.com/