Inter Vice President Javier Zanetti: “Ronaldo One Of The Strongest I Ever Played With”

Inter vice president Javier Zanetti has said that Ronaldo was one of the strongest players that he ever played with, according to a report in the Italian media.

Speaking during an interview with Calcio.com, Javier Zanetti spent a lot of time talking about the quality of Ronaldo who played for Inter for five years.

The Brazilian is regarded as one of the best strikers ever despite the immense physical difficulties that plagued his career.

He managed to score 49 goals in 68 games during his time at Inter between 1997 and 2002 before he moved to Real Madrid.

Javier Zanetti recalled the quality of the player and the great expectation that there was when he signed from Barcelona in 1997.

“We are talking about Ronaldo, the Phenomeno. For me he was one of the strongest players I played with. I remember that when he arrived at Inter there was great expectation because a great champion was arriving, and then he showed it on the pitch.”

The Argentine continued to wax lyrical about the various attributes that the Brazil striker possessed and the great moments that he gave the Inter fans during his time.

“Ronie had power, he had dribbling: in front of the goalkeeper he hardly missed. He was a great striker. In the Uefa Cup final against Lazio, where by the way I also scored, his third goal gave us the peace of mind that we had won the game.

“Watching the goal from behind, that dribble he made to the goalkeeper can only be done by phenomena. The anecdotes are many, we experienced great moments. I think Ronie, beyond what he had done that night on the pitch, was overjoyed because it was the first international trophy for so many of us.

“We are talking about a great champion, to face him was very difficult because he was an intelligent guy who knew what the team needed on the pitch. It was difficult to mark him because he had great timing, he was very intelligent with a lot of great plays.

“He made it to the highest level despite all the injuries. Every time he was on the pitch you knew you had a very important weapon to win games.”

He also talked about how much fun he was off of the pitch too.

“He was a lot of fun, he was a team player, always very generous. There are so many moments we lived together at Inter: as I said before, the memory of the Uefa Cup will remain for all of us a very important trophy because it was the first for so many.”