Ronaldo Soares Giovanelli

For other people named Ronaldo, see Ronaldo (disambiguation).

Ronaldo

Personal information
Full name	Ronaldo Soares Giovanelli
Date of birth	November 20, 1967 (1967-11-20)
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1998	Corinthians
1998	Fluminense
1999	Internacional-SP
1999-2000	Cruzeiro
2000-2001	Portuguesa
2001	Gama
2002	Ponte Preta
2003	Portuguesa Santista
2003	ABC
2004	Metropolitano
2004-2005	Portuguesa Santista
National team
1993	Brazil	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ronaldo Soares Giovanelli (born November 20, 1967 in São Paulo, Brazil) was a famous Brazilian football goalkeeper. Playing for many clubs, he is considered to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, which he defended for over 10 years.

Club career

Ronaldo begun his footballing career in 1979, after being making the cut in a selection for Corinthians. Originally a forward, he was intimidated by the large pool of children who were gunning for attacking positions at the day, and decided to try out for a goalkeeping position, as he had brought gloves to the tryout. Earning his place as a third goalkeeper at the junior team, Ronaldo was eventually brought to the main team to help out in training. He made his professional debut in a friendly against São José EC, in 1988, which ended in a goalless draw. In that same year, for the Campeonato Paulista, he defended a penalty kick from Dario Pereyra in the derby against São Paulo FC, cementing his place as the main goalkeeper for the team.

As a player, Ronaldo was notorious for his physicality and for not being afraid of charging an incoming attacker.

A fundamental player in Corinthians' 1990 Campeonato Brasileiro title win, and in 1994's defeat in the finals against SE Palmeiras, Ronaldo earned the Bola de Plata award from Placar Magazine for best goalkeeper in both of these years. He left the club in 1998, by the order of the then coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who sought to "renew" the club after the near relegation in 1997. Ronaldo played 602 times for Corinthians, being the team's third most capped player.

After being released by Corinthians, he played for many other clubs to no success, being part of the Fluminense squad that was relegated to the Série C. He retired from professional football in 2005.

Music career

While still playing for Corinthians, Ronaldo was a lead singer of the band Ronaldo e os Impedidos ("Ronaldo and the Offsiders"). After releasing two records, the band broke up. They returned in 2010 for the Corinthians' 100th anniversary festivities, and have been active since, playing both original music and covering songs from bands such as Megadeth, and artists like Raul Seixas and Elvis Presley. Ronaldo is also a radio host for Kiss FM.

Honors

Club

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

• Campeonato Paulista: 1988, 1995 1997
• Campeonato Brasileiro: 1990
• Supercopa do Brasil: 1991
• Copa do Brasil: 1995

Individual

• Bola de Prata: 1990, 1994

Personal life

Ronaldo is married and a father of two sons. He suffers from alopecia areata, which caused him to lose most of his hair.

External links

• Official website
• SambaFoot biography