Brazilian football icon Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, you know, the original Ronaldo, has again joined forces with PokerStars almost ten years after first becoming a member of the Team PokerStars stable.
Ronaldo is best-known for his goal-scoring prowess on the field, but Rio de Janeiro native loves playing poker. Speaking to the PokerStars Blog in 2013, when he first joined the Team PokerStars roster, Ronaldo said, "I always look to give my best in everything, in football and in life. Poker is another challenge that excites me."
The Brazilian superstar cashed twice while sporting the famous PokerStars logo. Ronaldo put together a deep run in the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event, busting in 26th place for $42,180. He followed that up with a seventh-place finish in a $1,100 side event at the 2016 PCA the following year, a finish worth $3,580.
It is the online poker world that Ronaldo appears to be focusing on this time around, particularly his personal Twitch channel, which has more than 400,000 followers.
"I am extremely excited to announce that I am becoming part of the PokerStars family again. I have always been a huge fan of the game and look forward to working on some exciting projects in the future. Keep an eye on Ronaldo TV where I'll be streaming some tournaments soon!"
Ronaldo joins Paris St. Germain megastar Neymar Jr, Andre Akkari, and Rafael Moreas in flying the Brazilian flag while sporting the famous PokerStars patch. Both Ronaldo and Neymar are football icons but they only ever played one match together, doing so in Ronaldo's farewell match. The pair linked up for 15 minutes in a game with Romania, which took place in February 2011 some five years after Ronaldo last played for Brazil and while Neymar was a fresh-faced 19-year-old.
It would be surprising if the Brazilian quartet do not get together soon in a poker-related stream.
An Amazing Goal Scoring Record
Ronaldo enjoyed a glistening football career spanning 1993 through to 2011. At club level, Ronaldo scored an incredible 352 goals in 518 appearances while turning out for the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid. He is Brazil's third-highest scoring with 62 international goals in 98 games; only the legendary Pele and Neymar have found the back of the net more times in a Brazil shirt.
Since retiring from playing in 2011, Ronaldo has focussed on his business interests, which include his sports marketing company 9INE. Ronaldo also holds a 51% controlling stake in the Spanish football team Real Valladolid and invested $70 million for a controlling stake in the Brazilian team Cruzeiro where Ronaldo started his career.
