While Real Madrid may have an impressive collection of stars on board now, it seems difficult for them to equal the star power that was one show during the original ‘Galacticos’ era. The Santiago Bernabeu saw Ronaldo Nazario, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo all mix it every weekend, as footballers embraced every part of celebrity culture.
The squad at the time, which included the ever-smiling Roberto Carlos, was just as famous for what it did off the pitch as what they did off it at times, often taking to the nightlife scene to enjoy themselves after games. None more so perhaps that Ronaldo, who has explained just how far his partying took him.
“I was at all of them. I played on Saturday and then went to Paris. I spent Sunday in Paris and went to the party at night. At seven in the morning, I caught the plane to Madrid and arrived at nine in the morning with training at ten. I did this many times,” he told Charla Podcast, as recounted by Cadena SER.
“In the city you play in, you either have a house party or you’re done for. So I branched out and traveled. I’ve always been one to throw parties and make sure everyone is happy.”
During his time at Inter, one of his closer colleagues was ‘Vampeta’, a fellow Brazilian international.
“He stayed at my house, and I went to Brazil. I had a wine cellar with 100 bottles, and he drank them all in two weeks. He finished all the bottles and opened more crates he had in the apartment until he found one that was special. It was a 1976 bottle that I bought at a restaurant in Paris for €10k. He and his friends opened this bottle and gave us each a plastic cup. He said it was hot and put ice in it.”
Despite his happy-go-lucky lifestyle, Ronaldo did reject the idea that he was not hard-working at the same time.
“I didn’t know what you had to do to be a player, so I did what was shown to me. To rise to the top, you have to develop technically, tactically, and physically. People often tell me I was a beast physically, and what a gift it was. Damn, I trained a lot. Nobody gets there that fast without training.”
His lifestyle has calmed down somewhat, with much of his time being taken up by his business empire. Too much, according to Real Valladolid fans, who have grown increasingly frustrated by his lack of attention and investment to La Pucela. Valladolid currently sit bottom of the table, 11 points adrift, with frequent protests against Ronaldo’s ownership.
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