Ronaldo can expect lukewarm reception on Italy return
Back on Italian soil after four and a half years in Spain, Ronaldo will get a different welcome from the hero's reception that greeted him when he first arrived to sign for AC Milan's arch-rivals Inter Milan in 1997.
Back on Italian soil after four and a half years in Spain, Ronaldo will get a different welcome from the hero's reception that greeted him when he first arrived to sign for AC Milan's arch-rivals Inter Milan in 1997.
His departure from Inter, in Aug. 2002, left a stain on his reputation in Italy. He sneaked out of the back door weeks after covering himself in glory by leading Brazil to victory over Germany in the World Cup final.
His refusal to continue playing for the club and particularly for its then coach Hector Cuper, ended in a hastily arranged transfer to Madrid and a police escort to the airport to shield him from fans' anger.
They called him Judas, accusing him of ingratitude and of betraying their club, of taking a salary for more than two years while he underwent surgery and therapy on a series of knee injuries then jumping ship as soon as he was fit.
Last week Inter's mild-mannered president Massimo Moratti expressed his disappointment at Ronaldo's decision to sign for AC Milan.
"He's returning to the wrong side of town. It's not nice. A transfer like this can happen in today's football but I'll admit that I don't like it. I was hoping the negotiations would fail," he said.
The Inter fans have been more brutal, baiting him as a "circus freak" and a "clown" on banners held up during an Italian Cup tie against Empoli earlier this month.
Even neutrals have shown little warmth towards a player whose behaviour has been vilified in the press.
In a survey in La Gazzetta dello Sport almost two-thirds of respondents said they thought Milan should not be paying any money for him but left him to extricate himself from his contract with Real Madrid on his own.
The club's former coach Gigi Simoni, who guided them to victory in the 1998 UEFA Cup during Ronaldo's first year in Italy, accused the fans of double-standards.
"It makes me laugh when I hear people talking about betrayal. Why don't people talk about (Andrea) Pirlo or (Clarence) Seedorf, who has been one of the best players in Italy for the last 10 years but was allowed to leave Inter for Milan," he said.
"I'm an Inter fan, but I'm pleased to see Ronnie back in Italy."
"The fans should remember they had him when he was the best in the world. Today, he's no longer the number one, maybe only fourth or fifth, but he's still capable of scoring great goals."
Milan's fans applauded Ronaldo when he appeared at the San Siro to watch last week's Italian Cup tie against AS Roma.
Their team has been without a reliable goalscorer since Andriy Shevchenko left for Chelsea at the end of last season.
It seems unlikely, however, that the club would have signed the Brazilian, who will not be eligible to play for Milan in Europe, had it not been for the failure of their other strikers to hit the target in Serie A during the first half of this season.
In the first 13 league matches Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino and Ricardo Oliveira mustered just three goals between them, a barren run that has contributed to Milan's current lowly ninth place in the league, 30 points behind Inter.
Former coach Arrigo Sacchi has suggested the striker could struggle to fit in.
"His dislike for rules and hard work is far from the mentality and way of working at Milan," he said.
Sacchi also believes Ronaldo would be ill-suited to playing alongside Gilardino, who has become a fixed point in the starting lineup.
According to Sacchi, the two men do the same job and cover the same spaces, a situation, he believes, that could result in them "stepping on each other's toes".