Luc Nilis remembers the first meeting with Ronaldo as yesterday. Immediately popular after the transfer, the Belgian with PSV became roommate of the Brazilian attacker in Eindhoven.
“Ronaldo had had a long flight and he fell asleep like a log,” Nilis recalls Sports / Football magazine. That was bad news for the Belgian. “He snored like a pig and in those circumstances it was impossible for me to stay in the same room. I called the team manager and doctor to listen to the snoring and they didn’t think it was normal.”
“They examined Ronaldo and what turned out? He snored because of a condition of his tonsils,” says Nilis. “The doctors were only able to surgically remove those glands during the winter break and, of course, he has only slept all this time.”
Ronaldo and Nilis had a special bond: it was not for nothing that the Brazilian once called him the player to whom he had the most. “He could have mentioned so many names, but he thought of me,” Nilis realizes. “He may have judged that I helped him with his transfer to Barcelona. I especially remember his modesty. The Ronaldo I knew was a man without hair.”
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