Who’s the King? Ronaldo is The King!

La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy):

Nell’andata del doppio confronto che assegna il campionato Paulista, l’ex interista segna una doppietta trascinando il Corinthians al 3-1 sul campo dell’ex squadra di Pelè

Marca (Spain):

El considerado mejor futbolista de todos los tiempos y máximo ídolo del club Santos brasileño, Edson Arantes do Nascimento ‘Pelé’, admitió que Ronaldo fue el principal responsable por la victoria del Corinthians sobre su equipo.

Olé (Argentina):

Ronaldo lo puso de rodillas. ¿A quién? A Edson Arantes do Nascimento (o el yeta de Pelé, como más te guste). El 10 fue a ver a su equipo, el Santos, frente al Corinthians, por la final del Campeonato Paulista. ¿Y? Después de tres años y medio el Peixe perdió en Vila Belmiro. Golazo del Gordo por arriba del arquero. Pelé, un amigo… de piedra.

The reactions above leave no doubt. The phenomenon is back. Last Sunday was the day the second most famous Brazilian footballer left his mark where the most famous wrote a great portion of his history. In the first leg of the final of Sao Paulo state championship, Ronaldo shined again in it is already has a place in the hall of fame of Corinthians. At the legendary Vila Belmiro, under the eyes of Pele, Santos attacked a lot. But Ronaldo took the glory home by scoring two goals, the second a piece of brilliant football.

The 3-1 victory put Corinthians very close to the title. In fact, Corinthians is a draw way of a defeatless paulista title, something unseen since 1974. And Ronaldo keeps breaking personal records. He scored 8 goals in 10 matches for Corinthians since his return. 4 of them were scored against Corinthians rivals (1 against Palmeiras, 1 against S. Paulo and 2 against Santos). In two months he wounded every major rival. This is unheard of. And the other 6 goals were scored against traditional or historically difficult sides such as Ponte Preta and Sao Caetano.

It was also the first time Pele saw santos losing at Vila Belmiro. And it is ironic it was against Corinthians, the club Pele scored many goals and for 11 years couldn’t beat Santos. It is also the first time since 1930 Corinthians will take a title when playing a final against Santos. Seriously, only a genius could break so many historical marks with so few touches in the ball.

Ronaldo wasn’t everywhere. Santos attacked more. Way more. But every time it was on the verge of getting a draw, Ronaldo touched the ball, pushing it to the back of the net. And as we talk about all the crossing moments between Pele and Ronaldo, the number 9 reminds more and more of another Brazilian genius: Romario. Not many touches. All of them lethal and intelligent.

The phenomenon is back again.

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