Fabio Capello met Ronaldo when he was in charge of Real Madrid and praised the Brazilian’s qualities, but admitted he went to the president and demanded a sale.
Former England manager Fabio Capello described Ronaldo as “the best player I’ve ever coached”, but went to the Real Madrid bosses and insisted he needed to get rid of his weight and the Brazilian sensibility of always partying too much.
Capello played twice for Real, and during his second stint, 10 years after his first, he crossed paths with striker Ronaldo, who was nearing the end of his career. Ronaldo was signed from Inter Milan in 2002, shortly after his country’s fifth World Cup appearance.
His mercurial ability was evident as a teenager, scoring with regularity wherever he went. Ronaldo scored 104 goals in 177 games for the Spanish giants, but only one of those goals came in Capello’s final year as manager.
The Brazilian was sold to AC Milan in January, but an Italian manager was ultimately chosen. Capello is known for his disciplined style and ultimately demanded that President Ramon Calderon sell Ronaldo.
He told AS: “Ronaldo is the best player I’ve ever coached. He’s a guy who loves to party every night, he’s crazy, he weighs 94 kilograms and he wouldn’t lose weight. At one point I told the president we have to let him go, there’s no hope of moving forward. And we let him go. But again, he’s the best player I’ve ever coached.”
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Real signed Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006, when Capello was on the rise, and that signaled Ronaldo’s gradual exit. The World Cup winner and two-time Ballon d’Or winner admitted he regularly attended parties, often heading to training immediately afterwards.
“I participated in all of it. I played on Saturday and then went to Paris. I spent Sunday in Paris and went to a party in the evening,” he told the Chara Podcast. “I got on a plane to Madrid at 7am, arrived at 9am, and trained at 10am. I did this over and over again.”
However, Ronaldo claims that his work rate never dropped during his time in Madrid, even though he ultimately failed to bring Spain the expected trophies. He won the La Liga title in his first year, but that was the only major silver medal he won with Real.
The club was hoping for a league title, but was beaten by Valencia and then Barcelona. The situation was finally put to rest by Capello. Capello led them to the championship just one year ago. He was dismissed due to his playing style.
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