Ronaldo's Proposed Return Can Only Be Negative for Brazilian Great

Can football be described as an art form? Certainly, there are players who can make the game look like that, and this week’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, and the battle over the best part of the last decade between juggernauts Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can only add to the idea of sport as a spectacle, entertainment, drama, freedom of expression.

Perhaps, once Messi, Ronaldo and all the muscle flexing and pouting have been put to rest will their true contribution to the game be understood. They are certain to go down in the pantheon of all-time greats, just like Cristiano’s namesake, Ronaldo, retired since 2011.

Ronaldo Fenomeno, in case you need reminding, is one of the most celebrated players of the previous generation, arguably the most celebrated alongside Zinedine Zidane.

Winner of three World Player of the Year awards and two World Cups, his bulging trophy cabinet complements his world-class skill. While he did not quite bow out at the top—there was a brief spell at Paulista club Corinthians, where he nevertheless managed to lift the Copa do Brasil—he retired at the right time. His body, ravaged by a series of knee injuries, no longer affording him an explosive turn of pace that gave him a ruthless advantage over defenders given the unenviable task of trying to mark him.

But by the time he did hang up his boots, at the end of Corinthians’ premature exit from the Copa Libertadores, his body had slowed considerably. He admitted that his mind still knew what he wanted to do, but his body could no longer obey the order, as reported by UOL Esporte (link in Portuguese); he knew it was the right hour to draw the curtain on one of the most distinguished careers of the late '90s and early '00s.

There were those 47 goals in his only season at Camp Nou and the 2002 World Cup—Ronaldo’s World Cup—when he proved his most stringent critics wrong, netting eight goals as Brazil lifted their fifth, and to date last, world crown.

It would seem, taken at first glance, the idea that at the age of 38 he can suddenly pull on a football shirt again is preposterous. It is entirely understandable that a player can miss the thrill of the crowd, the anticipation in the tunnel before kick-off, and, certainly for a striker, the feeling of ecstasy upon watching the ball beat the goalkeeper and smack the back of the net, the adulation from the crowd and your position as idol to tens of millions.

But there is a balancing act to be achieved. Namely, a player’s desire to step over the white line against preserving the memories of a stellar career.

What clubs will realistically be looking to sign an overweight and rusty football who is four years out of the game? The real danger—nay, the inevitable should Ronaldo decide to get back into football—is that he will be a novelty act, akin to the circus entertainment, brought in to wave at the crowd, waddle around the final third and try to get on the end of something, anything, preferably the ball.

Fort Lauderdale Strikers and the second tier of U.S. football is no place for a player of Ronaldo’s stature; it is a backwater, and, supposing he is even fit enough to last a 90-minute exertion, it is entirely feasible that the channels of time have left him unable to compete even at that rudimentary level.

All of which would be a crying shame, tainting the image of one of the most lethal finishers the game has ever seen. Perhaps his final game for Brazil could serve as scant warning for how this ill-advised saunter may turn out.

In mid-2011 the former No. 9 put in a 20-minute cameo for Brazil against Romania, giving him the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to an adoring public. He looked desperately out of shape and off the pace.

At 38, there is no comeback. Savour the good times and remain out to pasture. If there is one thing Ronaldo should not be, it is anybody’s circus act.