Ronaldo's Greatest Career Moments

With the recent news that Brazilian legend Ronaldo is retiring, the sports world has gone crazy paying tributes to one of the greatest strikers ever seen.

Despite his controversial personal life, there can be no denying that Ronaldo, the "real Ronaldo," will always be associated with stunning goals, stellar performances and an ability that struck fear into the heart of every defender he came across.

With the recent news, here is a list of Ronaldo's top-10 career moments, in no particular order.

Ronaldo's Most Stunning Goal: Barcelona vs. Compostela

In what is rated as the strikers best ever goal, Ronaldo took the ball past six of the Compostela players as he made a darting run right from the halfway line.

The Brazilian left both teams' fans (and for that matter staff as well) in absolute awe of what had just happened.

The goal sums up everything that made Ronaldo's game so special—his ability to play in the middle of the park, take the ball around defenders and outrun anyone who tried to get near him and finish the move with deadly accuracy.

Breaking the World Cup Scoring Record

Playing in four World Cups, Ronaldo scored 15 goals for his nation in the World Cup finals, making him the all-time World Cup leading scorer.

Germany legend Gerd Muller is just one goal behind on 14 goals, alongside compatriot Miroslav Klose.

Unless Klose somehow manages to play for Germany again in 2014 (provided they qualify) at the age of 36, then it seems very unlikely that we will see this record broken for quite some time yet.

Champions League Hat Trick against Manchester United

In the 2003-2004 season, Ronaldo played in one of his most memorable games to date. Despite Real Madrid losing the game, Ronaldo scored a superb hat trick of goals to help keep the game close.

It's difficult to describe just why the hat trick was so impressive, other than that it showed everything that Ronaldo was when he was on the top of his form.

The video will no doubt be a better description of what makes the striker so special that words could be.

2002 World Cup Win

Ronaldo led from the front as Brazil won the 2002 World Cup with other legends including Cafu and Rivaldo.

The striker managed to banish memories of the disappointing final four years earlier and went on to play a key role in Brazil's 2002 World Cup triumph.

The nation have not won the trophy since but still remain the world's most successful nation following that tournament, having won the trophy five times.

Ronaldo Brings the Step Over to Life

If you'll excuse the music in the video clip, you'll be able to see just how skilful Ronaldo really was.

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's best efforts to use the legends name and tricks, the Brazilian striker is the player that actually bought the step over into the main stream.

It wasn't that no one had done the trick before, but it was rare that someone would do it with as much success as Ronaldo. The Brazilian legend used it as another reason to be seen as one of the world's best strikers.

Ronaldo Wins His Record-Breaking Third World Player of the Year Award

Ronaldo managed to break the record for most FIFA World Player of the Year awards, having won the trophy three times.

The Brazilian striker won the trophy in 1996 (with second in the Ballon d'Or), 1997 (also winning the Ballon d'Or) and 2002 (again, also winning the Ballon d'Or).

In 1996, he was the youngest player to pick up the award; another record that the Brazil legend still holds.

Return to Corinthians

Ronaldo made a return to Corinthians in 2009 amongst much joy from Brazilian fans.

Despite his struggle with injuries and weight problems, the Brazilian striker still made his mark during his return to Corinthians.

He may not have been on his best form, but to see the one of the world's finest players return to play back in his homeland in the twilight of his career was something that every football fan would have liked to have seen.

Aftermath of the 1998 World Cup Final

So it may seem like a strange choice, but Ronaldo even admitted to himself that the 1998 World Cup final was good for him.

While he was still involved in controversy after the match, the game still appeared to change the strikers outlook on football to a certain extent.

He was quoted as saying "We lost the World Cup, but I won another cup: my life."

Third Goal against Lazio in UEFA Cup Final

Ronaldo secured his place in the hearts of Inter Milan fans when he scored the third goal of Inter Milan's 3-0 UEFA Cup final win over Lazio in 1998.

The Brazilian timed his run to absolute perfection to ensure that he had acres of space, and there was not a defender in sight.

He then went on to run the ball around the goalkeeper and neatly slot home the final goal of the game.

To this day, it's rare that a striker can make a goalkeeper look as bad as Ronaldo did on that day.

Revival of Tricks in Brazilian Football

So, I've already mentioned the step overs, but Ronaldo was also partly responsible for the revival of trickery in the Brazilian game.

While the country's national team has always played with flair, without Ronaldo's inspiration, we may not have seen the same Ronaldinho that we know today, amongst many other players.

While his personal life may not have been a great choice to follow, many young Brazilian footballers (in fact footballers from all over the world) have been inspired by Ronaldo's talent.

That's arguably the biggest gift a player can give to the beautiful game.