Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Brazilian Portuguese:born 18 September 1976),commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian owner and president of La Liga club Real Valladolid and a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Popularly dubbed "O Fenômeno" (The Phenomenon), in Portuguese,he is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, he has been the influence for a generation of strikers that have followed. Ronaldo won three FIFA World Player of the Year awards, two Ballon d'Or awards, a UEFA Club Footballer of the Year, a UEFA Club Best Forward and a European Golden Shoe.

Ronaldo started his career at Cruzeiro and moved to PSV in 1994, where he won the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year award at 20 years old, making him the youngest FIFA World Player of the Year winner. He joined Barcelona the next season for a then world record fee and won the 1997 Ballon d'Or, making him the youngest Ballon d'Or winner, as well as the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year. In 1997, Inter Milan broke the world record fee to sign Ronaldo, making him only the second player, after Diego Maradona, to break the world transfer record twice. By age 23, Ronaldo had scored over 200 goals for club and country, however after a series of knee injuries and recuperation he was inactive for almost three years. Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2002 and won the 2002–03 La Liga title. He had spells at A.C. Milan and Corinthians before retiring in 2011 having suffered further injuries.

Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second-highest goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé. At age 17, Ronaldo was the youngest member of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament, helping Brazil reach the final. He won the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he starred in a front three with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Ronaldo scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as the tournament's top goalscorer. He subsequently was awarded the 2002 Ballon d'Or. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th FIFA World Cup goal, which was a FIFA World Cup record at the time. He also won the 1997 Copa América, where he was player of the tournament, and the 1999 Copa América, where he was top goalscorer.