Ronaldo fights back tears as he announces his retirement

Ronaldo made it known on Sunday that he had already played his last match and has "cried like a baby" over recent days as he decided to move up his retirement from the end of the season to right now. The tears continued at his press conference on Monday announcing the decision brought on by his weight gain, long list of injury problems and the premature end to Corinthians' Copa Libertadores run, which sparked the violent rage of the club's fans.

From the AP:

The pain made me anticipate the end of my career, the tearful Ronaldosaid, with his sons Alex and Ronald by his side.

He also said that he found out four years ago that he had hypothyroidism, acondition that made it difficult for him to lose weight and stay in shape.

Its very hard to leave something that made me so happy, Ronaldo saidwith tearstained cheeks. Mentally I wanted to continue, but I have toacknowledge that I lost (the fight) to my body.

Of course, that hypothyroidism wasn't helped when he would defy his team's wishes by staying out late and partying at nightclubs all the time. Or when he would reportedly miss training because of it. But, moving on -- Ronaldo then discussed the reaction of Corinthians' fans to the club becoming the first Brazilian side to ever fail to qualify for the Copa Libertadores in the preliminary round. Their message of "Ronaldo out" and "shameless fatty" hasted his decision, just as they drove Roberto Carlos to sign with Russian club ! Anzhi ov er the weekend.

Ive never seen fans with so much passion, he said, his voice cracking.Their need for results sometimes made them a little aggressive, a bit out ofcontrol.

I want to publicly apologize for failing in the Libertadores project, hesaid, crying, before team president Andres Sanchez handed him a jersey with thewords forever and phenomenon.

It's a shame that what should have been a glorious final stop where he should have been revered and appreciated by his countrymen turned into a regrettable debacle that he felt the need to apologize for as he called an abrupt end to his career. But as Zidane will tell you, you can't always have a fairy tale ending.

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Photo: Getty Images