The Phenomenon

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source: The Phenomenon

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World has never seen a football player like this. Combination of physical strength, speed, unmatched technique and pure love for the game. No diving, no acting, no disrespect, no putting pressure on referees, simple goal celebrations and that contagious smile. Going through toughest challenges, both mental and physical, that one athlete can go through. The amount of pressure on the back of one 20 (twenty) year old, it's unreal he even came back. Most of the pros would just quit and retire. He played for both Real Madrid and Barca, both Inter and Milan, on top of it, everyone loves him. I don't think we are going to see that ever again. I agree, Messi and Cristiano are out of this world, their careers speak for them. When it comes to pure football, there is no second to Ronaldo, he was and is the best football player to ever played the game. He is football ! Movie amazingly portrayed and put in focus that blurry and most painful part of his career. We all have seen/ read / heard numerous stories about that 98 final. Stayed silent while rewatching those injuires, think how, why.. Watching all of this, I just appreciate his greatness even more. I will end this with a quote from late Sinisa Mihajlovic: "Worst thing is, Ronaldo runs in a counter attack and Nesta and me are alone in the defence."

Really looked forward to seeing this but I was left very disappointed. It only covers the 98-02 World Cup period and skirts around the injury prior to the final, doesn't address any of the rumours (was he on pain killing injections etc) there was nothing in the 90 minutes that makes it worth watching to gain any insights into the man. The absolute highlight of it all was Christian Vieri and I must admit I'd love to see a fly on the wall with him after watching this, he's hilarious and honest. Even for the hardcore fans this doesn't really offer anything new. 3/10 just for the goal clips and that's being generous, better footage on YouTube.

I was only 13 years old when I had his football shirt back in 1997. During that time there were so many speculations about him in particular during the Final of World Cup 1998. This documentary gives detailed information about what happened at the final and afterwards when Ronaldo got seriously injured while playing for Inter Milan in Italy. The documentary is absolutely amazing and there are so many football legends that gave interviews for this film such as Diego Simeone, Zinadine Zidane, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Carlos, Christian Vieri, etc. This documentary film freshens up the memories of old good days when football was football !

Ronaldo Fenômeno was considered the best player in the world in 1998, when he was only 21 years old. The hopes of the most demanding football fans on the planet rested on his shoulders as he was Brazil's talisman going into the 1998 World Cup... A fantastic account of that period of O Fenômeno's career, told in a manner we haven't seen before. Proper 10/10 stuff. I'd highly recommend it to football fans and non football fans alike because it's very gripping, accurate, very well made. Everything is told & showed as it happened, and it's a story that deserves to be known, heard, seen. A phenomenal example of human spirit combined with genius of the highest order. Simply brilliant. Quite possibly the ultimate redemption arc ever.

source: The Phenomenon

World has never seen a football player like this. Combination of physical strength, speed, unmatched technique and pure love for the game. No diving, no acting, no disrespect, no putting pressure on referees, simple goal celebrations and that contagious smile. Going through toughest challenges, both mental and physical, that one athlete can go through. The amount of pressure on the back of one 20 (twenty) year old, it's unreal he even came back. Most of the pros would just quit and retire. He played for both Real Madrid and Barca, both Inter and Milan, on top of it, everyone loves him. I don't think we are going to see that ever again. I agree, Messi and Cristiano are out of this world, their careers speak for them. When it comes to pure football, there is no second to Ronaldo, he was and is the best football player to ever played the game. He is football ! Movie amazingly portrayed and put in focus that blurry and most painful part of his career. We all have seen/ read / heard numerous stories about that 98 final. Stayed silent while rewatching those injuires, think how, why.. Watching all of this, I just appreciate his greatness even more. I will end this with a quote from late Sinisa Mihajlovic: "Worst thing is, Ronaldo runs in a counter attack and Nesta and me are alone in the defence."

In 1998 Ronaldo was universally accepted as the best football player in the world. In his pomp it's no exaggeration to say he combined many of the characteristics of both Messi and Cristiano the two greatest players to have played the game this century and arguably ever. He arguably would have reached similar levels of personal and club success if it wasn't for the devastating injuries in the early years of his career which are documented in this film. Despite this he's still considered to be one of the best footballers ever, is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup and a double winner of the competition. Messi and Cristiano will never manage that.