10 football superstars that were rejected as youngsters

#1 Ronaldo

'The Phenomenon' faced rejection very early in his career. Ronaldo was born in Rio De Janeiro and opted to join his favorite Flamengo where his football idol, Zico, had amazed the masses during the 1980s. However, it was not meant for him to follow in Zico's footsteps.

According to reports, Ronaldo was invited to a trial by Flamengo and after a great performance, he was instructed to come back for a second trial the day after. Yet, he could not afford the bus ticket to Flamengo's training ground and as a result, the club decided not to give him a second chance to prove his worth. He was never invited back.

Luckily for him and for all of us, Ronaldo signed instead for Sao Cristovao where Jairzinho, the former Brazil player, was in charge and he was the one to suggest Cruzeiro proceed with his signing.

About the author

I am a graduate of English Language and Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and I am currently completing my MA studies in Modern Journalism. I am a huge fan of European Football, especially Calcio.
As far as my work experience is concerned, I was a senior writer and one of the founding members of a Greek website called "sportsdaily.gr". This website was devoted to European football and especially news about the greatest European clubs. I was in fact solely responsible for Serie A. As a result, in the nearly 2 years of the website running live, I had written over 2,000 pieces of match analysis, match previews as well as news in general.
Lastly, I have been working as a sports journalist for "Yellow Radio 92,8", a radio station based in Thessaloniki, Greece which deals with Aris Thessaloniki FC, one of the greatest and historic clubs in Greece. As part of my role, I conduct research on Aris' next opponents reviewing their strengths and weaknesses.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram