Ronaldo Nazario da Lima:
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Ronaldo the Phenomenon is the closest example we have to Messi in attacking ability on this list. After a spate of injuries and relapses in the late 90s and early noughties, Ronaldo was hardly able to make a single appearance of note for Internazionale, who had paid top dollar to bring him to the San Siro from Barcelona in 1997.
Having lit up the World Cup of 1998 in France with 4 goals and generally dazzling play that brought him into the reckoning for the Golden Ball honours, he suffered a concussion just a few hours before the scheduled kickoff. He did not travel on the team bus from the hotel, and it was initially assumed that he would not start the game.
He convinced coach Mario Zagallo to field him in the starting XI, but once on the field the impact of his concussion was quite clear. He was marked out of the game by Thuram, Blanc and Deschamps as France convincingly won 3-0.
His resolve to avenge the disappointment of this final drove him through the pain barrier, even though he had barely played a full-length competitive game for Inter in the 2 seasons preceding the 2002 World Cup. His performance in the Brazil pre-tournament camp, though, left little doubts about the fire in his belly to prove a point to the world.
The rest, as they say, is history. Ronaldo scored in 6 games out of 7 in the tournament, finishing with a tally of 8 and the Golden Boot to boot. Unsurprisingly, his performances for Brazil, and then for Real Madrid following a high-profile transfer to the Spanish capital, earned him his third World Player of the Year trophy.
