Ronaldo means much more than soccer for my generation

Tonight, at 8:45PM EST, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima also known as 'The Phenomenon' will wear the jersey of the Brazilian national team for the last time in a game versus Romania that will be held in Sao Paulo. He will only play 15 minutes as he has already retired and is in no shape to play more than that, but the Brazilian people wanted to pay him one last homage.

Ronaldo was a prolific goal scorer, has won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times (a record), was the highest goalscorer in history of the World Cup with 15 goals, has won two World Cups, played 3 World Cup finals... In short, if you ask any soccer fan under 35, I think most will agree that Ronaldo was the greatest soccer player of our generation. Some will argue he was the greatest of all time.

Yet tonight... when he walks on that field, that's not the only reason my eyes and those of millions across the world will be filled with tears. For us, Ronaldo is more then the greatest soccer player we've ever seen: he is our childhood hero!

Ronaldo's career was plagued by knee injuries. Soccer players rarely come back from a knee injury and get back to play at the same level as before. Yet Ronaldo did it, over and over again. He suffered his first knee injury in 1996 while at PSV Eindhoven yet managed to score 12 goals out of 13 games that season and followed with 47 goals in 49 games the season that followed while at FC Barcelona.

After losing the final of the World Cup with Brazil in 1998 and being mysteriously sick the day of the final, he came back in 2002 and won the World Cup for Brazil. The year before, he had 2 knee surgeries (same knee) and was out for months. Yet he came back and won the World Cup scoring two goals in the Final.

More injuries came later in his career, but Ronaldo kept fighting them and kept getting back on the field and scoring goals.

Ronaldo taught us all that with perseverance and a strong will: everything is possible! As a kid growing up, we all need a childhood hero teach us this lesson, to teach us the value of fighting hard for what you believe and what you want. These heroes come from different places. They could be a parent, an actor, an athlete, a cartoon character...

As the 37signals's write-up about Intellum last week highlighted, it took that kind of winning mentality for Intellum to be here today. I'm sure Chip, Matt, and Will were inspired by someone... by their hero.

Mine was Ronaldo.

And tonight... For the last time, I will see him come back to the game, again... and I'll remember all his struggles and how he overcame them all to be the greatest player I've ever seen.

The Brazilians have a word to express how I feel today: Saudade!