According to former coach Fabio Capello, he once asked Real to sell Ronaldo Nazario because the Brazilian striker partied too much, affecting the team.
"In February 2007, I decided to fire Ronaldo Nazario. He loved to party and always invited his teammates to join him. One day, Van Nistelrooy came and told me: 'Boss, the dressing room smells of alcohol' and it was true. Ronaldo's weight that year was 94 kg. At the 2002 World Cup in Korea, he weighed 82 kg. I asked him to lose weight and he only lost 92.5 kg," AS quoted Capello.
Capello believes Ronaldo's partying habits affect the whole team. Photo: Marca
Capello led Real in the 2006-2007 season. It was the end of the Galaticos era when president Florentino Perez created a "super team" with stars like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham. When he returned to the Bernabeu, Capello was tasked with reforming the team in crisis. He implemented tough policies, removing "Alien" Ronaldo from the team and banishing Beckham to the bench.
According to AS , former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy did not confirm that he had ever accused Capello of the Real dressing room being filled with the smell of alcohol. As for the Italian coach, he said that former Milan president Silvio Berlusconi had called him to ask for advice on recruiting Ronaldo. "I said he was a party animal, always surrounded by women. But the next day, they ignored me and signed Ronaldo," Capello said.
Ronaldo is not the only player with an unhealthy lifestyle that Capello has coached. He said he was more irritated with Antonio Cassano, who often ignored instructions and ate crisps before matches. The former England manager also criticised the Spanish media, saying their influence on the public was too great.
Capello helped Real win La Liga in 2006-2007. At that time, they were nine points behind Barca but still came back to win the title. In the final round against Real Mallorca, Real were down 0-1 at half-time. When asked what he said to revive the team, Capello said: "The fear was evident on the players' faces and they passed the ball around. At half-time, I ordered the whole team to sit on the floor and sat next to them. I put Roberto Carlos in front of me and said: 'Are we going to overcome a nine-point gap and then lose the championship?'. I asked Carlos to push his teammates harder than ever. In the end, we won 3-1 and became champions."
Duy Doan (according to AS )
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