MILAN - He dummies one way then cuts back the other before bursting past his man and firing beyond Alex Brunner in the Bologna goal. Three seconds of pure football poetry in motion - the first verse in the ballad between Inter and a boy from Bento Ribeiro who would celebrate his 21st birthday eight days after that goal at the Stadio Dall'Ara on 14 September 1997.
His name was Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, but everyone called him Ronaldo. Inter bought him from Barcelona, where the season before he had scored 47 goals in 49 games and won the Spanish Super Cup, Copa del Rey and Cup Winners' Cup, paving the way for his first Ballon d'Or. The Nerazzurri paid around 50 billion lira for him (approximately €25 million) and unveiled him to a delirious crowd in a showcase friendly against Manchester United at the Meazza on 27 July 1997.
He was the perfect signing to complete Gigi Simoni's team, a mix of brawn and skill led by captain Giuseppe Bergomi, classy players such as Youri Djorkaeff, exemplary professionals such as Javier Zanetti and gutsy leaders such as Diego Pablo Simeone and Ivan Zamorano.
Simoni eased the new boy in gradually in pre-season and he scored his first goal in a Nerazzurri shirt in a friendly against Pisa on 19 August. But everyone - especially the 70,000 with tickets - wanted to see him in action at the Meazza against Brescia on the opening day of the Serie A season, 31 August. He couldn't cap his debut with a goal - the crossbar and some top goalkeeping by Giovanni Cervone saw to that - and it was another Inter new signing, Alvaro Recoba, who stole the show by overturning Dario Hubner's opener with a brilliant brace.
Having scored in a friendly against Fiorenzuola - with a then 32-year-old Stefano Pioli in their ranks - Ronaldo went looking for his first competitive goal against Roberto Baggio's Bologna on 14 September. 'I'd gladly let Ronaldo have the stage if it means we win the game,' claimed the Italy striker who had just joined from AC Milan. In fact it was the opposite that happened because Roby scored two - one a brilliant free-kick - but it was Ronaldo and Inter who took home the points.
The Brazilian struggled in the early stages of the game - played amidst a downpour in Bologna - shackled by Massimo Paganin, his team-mate at Inter until just a few days before. He was marked extremely tightly and rarely found space for his usual bursts of pace - and when he did he was often fouled.
When they afforded him a few inches, like in the 52nd minute, he scored with a combination of power and technique. He celebrated with a grin, his arms outstretched before punching the air and being hugged by his team-mates. It was the goal that made it 3-1.
Further strikes were to come from Baggio and Djorkaeff - the Frenchman with a stunning lob - as it ended 4-2.
After the game Bologna coach Renzo Ulivieri, not one to mince his words, said of Ronaldo: 'You can only stop a player like that by bringing him down.'
Indeed, not many teams succeeded in keeping him quiet that season. Just as he'd shown at PSV and Barcelona before, Ronie had an insatiable appetite for goals. He went on to score 34 in 47 matches that year: 25 in Serie A, where Inter finished second, and six in the UEFA Cup, including that magnificent dribble in the final against Lazio.
In was an unrepeatable season in many ways. Four more would follow, punctuated by wins, defeats and injuries - but above all goals. The boy from Bento Ribeiro went on to net 59 in 99 appearances for Inter, many of them brilliant, some fortunate, others just Ronaldo being Ronaldo. Like the one he scored on that rainy afternoon in Bologna, where it all began.
Roberto Brambilla
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