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SAO PAULO (AFP) – Three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo, whose goalscoring genius led Brasil to the 2002 World Cup title, confirmed his withdrawal on weekday at the age of 34.

The swimming Corinthians striker declared his selection at a press word in Sao Paulo.

"I'm fastening my occupation as a professed footballer," he said, his vocalise breaking. "It's been a beautiful, emotional, supernatural career.

"These terminal two years, I've had a daylong series of injuries, from digit lateral to the other, digit leg to the other, digit hooligan to the other. The pain pushed me to conceive most the modify of my career."

Ronaldo also revealed that he suffered from a endocrine difficulty that had prefabricated it arduous to curb his weight.

"Four eld ago, in Milan, I unconcealed that I suffered from an under-active endocrine that slowed downbound my metastasis and that to curb it, I had to verify hormones that weren't authorised in sport as they were thoughtful a modify of doping," he said.

"Lots of grouping must regret having prefabricated jokes most my weight. But I see no emotion towards anyone."

Having primeval indicated that he hoped to endeavor on until the modify of the year, injuries and Corinthians' primeval elimination from the Copa Libertadores prompted him to bring nervy his retirement.

During a glittering 14-year speech in Europe, Ronaldo scored goals at a prolific rate for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, before backward to Brasil in 2009.

He won the World Cup with Brasil in 2002 and became the directive scorer in World Cup finals tournaments when he scored his 15th content at the 2006 competition in Germany.

He was twice titled dweller Footballer of the Year, in 1997 and 2002, and finished his planetary occupation with 62 goals in 97 appearances.

Widely regarded as digit of the greatest players of every time, 'El Fenomeno' (The Phenomenon) won the World Cup with Brasil for the prototypal instance in 1994, though on that occasion the 17-year-old was part of the unit and did not play.

In 1998, he was among the losing finalists, beaten 3-0 at Stade de author by a rampant French lateral that included the inspirational Zinedine Zidane.

Brazil's grapheme striker suffered a convulsive sound on the eve of the match and was distant from the starting line-up.

In a hammy changing-room re-shuffle, he was reinstated meet before kick-off but was a dominate of the discouraging nervy who had scored four goals in the run-up to the final.

But the 2002 competition was where he prefabricated history.

Shrugging soured trauma in the tournament, which was hosted by Japan and South Korea, he played a key role in serving Brasil to the trophy, scoring both goals in his country's 2-0 win over FRG in the test in Yokohoma.

At the 2006 World Cup in FRG he took his World Cup tally to 15 goals, surpassing the previous achievement held by Gerd Mueller by digit goal.

Ronaldo, who began his occupation with Cruzeiro, had to fisticuffs backwards from threesome career-threatening articulatio injuries over the course of his career.

He was sidelined while activity for Inter by a articulatio trauma in 1999 exclusive to alteration the same articulatio in his comeback for the edifice in Feb 2000, effectively keeping him discover of action until March 2002.

In Feb 2008 he ruptured a tendon in his correct articulatio activity for AC city against Livorno, an trauma that ended his occupation in Europe.

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