Rebuilding Ronaldo’s knee

In 2000, Brazilian footballer Ronaldo Nazario, known as Ronaldo, suffered a career-threatening knee injury whilst playing for Inter Milan at the age of 24.

His physiotherapist, Nilton Petroni, said it was the ‘worst football injury’ he had ever seen.

Over the next two years, Nilton worked with Ronaldo to rebuild his knee so that it could withstand the pressure of playing football again after surgery.

By 2002, Ronaldo was fit again and selected for Brazil’s World Cup squad. He scored 8 goals in 7 games as Brazil became world champions for a record 5th time.

Nilton has been speaking to Tim O’Callaghan about Ronaldo’s amazing recovery.

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(Photo: Ronaldo and Nilton during a treatment session for his knee. Credit: ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP via Getty Images)