Retired for more than 10 years now, Ronaldo has never left the pitch. In recent years, the Brazilian has been mainly active behind the scenes, he who owns Real Valladolid and Cruzeiro in his native country. Always on the lookout for the news, the former Ballon d’Or 1997 and 2002 spoke about the meteoric rise of Vinicius Jr. A real revelation for 2 years now, the left winger of Real Madrid s is imposed among the very best players in the world. Inevitably, his progress does not go unnoticed for Ronaldo.
During an interview for the podcast of “Mano a Mano”R9 was candid: “Vini didn’t train well at Flamengo. He didn’t know how to control the ball, especially with his left foot, they didn’t prepare him well on the space-time ratio on the pitch or on the technical bases. It only got better when he left. For many years, the young and beautiful promises out of Brazil have managed to impose themselves internationally only thanks to their talent. Very often, boys are ‘rough’. A striking case is that of Vinicius. It has improved a lot with training programs, professional methodology and the help of great professionals. He has changed exponentially in the last two years at Real Madrid. Vinicius is the most decisive player in world football right now.” A look as hard on the Brazilian training as just about one of the youngsters who have evolved the most in recent years. Going forward, Vinicius Jr could very well be the next player from Brazil to win the Ballon d’Or, the last being Kaka in 2007.
