Ronaldo Nazario frolics with fiancée in sea – with different body to Brazil days on show

Posted Saturday, August 05, 2023 by Dailystar.co.uk

Brazil World Cup-winning icon Ronaldo Nazario has been pictured frolicking about with his gorgeous fiancée Celina Locks while on holiday together in Spain

Ronaldo Nazario frolics with fiancée in sea – with different body to Brazil days on show
Ronaldo Nazario was spotted cosying up to his fiancée in Ibiza this week (Image: MEGA)

Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazario was spotted bobbing about in the sea with his sexy bikini-clad fiancée Celina Locks while on holiday in Ibiza on Thursday.

The 46-year-old was seen topless and proudly parading his larger physique, having ballooned in size since he hung up his boots in 2011, as he cosied up to Celina, 33, in the shallows and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Ronaldo did look noticeably slimmer than when he was pictured in Ibiza last year, while his blonde beau showed off her superbly toned midriff.

The couple got engaged back in January during a romantic Caribbean getaway, with Celina announcing the news on Instagram with a sweet photo of them cuddling and sharing a kiss, along with the caption: "YES, I do".

Ronaldo gained weight during the latter half of his playing career.

While most assumed his love of partying and junk food was to blame, it later turned out that he had Hypothyroidism - an auto-immune disease which causes the thyroid gland - which helps to regulate the body's weight by regulating the body's metabolism - to stop working correctly.

When he retired, he announced: "I've lost the struggle against my body".

Ronaldo Nazario frolics with fiancée in sea – with different body to Brazil days on show
Ronaldo was looking noticeably slimmer than in recent years (Image: MEGA)

In his heyday, Ronaldo was widely considered the best footballer on the planet. He first burst onto the scene with Brazilian side Cruzeiro before being snapped up by PSV as a 17-year-old in 1994. There, he announced himself to the world by scoring 54 goals in 57 games, petrifying Eredivisie defenders as he went.

Barcelona broke the world transfer record to bring him to the Camp Nou in 1996, and Inter Milan did the same in 1997 and he become the youngest ever recipient of the Ballon d'Or a few months later. All the while the goals continued to flow, but then a series of brutal knee injuries stopped him dead in his tracks.

In a desperate bid to save his career, Ronaldo was forced to sacrifice the explosiveness which had defined so much of his game and turned him into the world's greatest player.

He missed the entirety of the 2000/01 season, and much of the season either side, but returned in time to lead Brazil to victory at the 2002 World Cup, laying the ghost of the 1998 tournament to rest and capping off one of sport's most unfathomable comebacks.

A move to Real Madrid followed shortly after as he joined Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo as Los Blancos' latest Galactico. He scored 85 goals in his first three seasons at the Bernabeu - including a memorable hat-trick against Manchester United in 2003 which saw him receive a standing ovation from the Old Trafford fans.

But in 2006, Madrid manager Fabio Capello had had enough and decided to drop the striker until he lost some weight, which eventually led to his departure in January 2007. A brief spell at AC Milan followed before he brought the curtain down with a two-and-a-half year stint back in his homeland with Corinthians.

These days he's the majority owner of two football clubs, Spanish club Real Valladolid and Brazilian outfit Cruzeiro, having bought controlling stakes in them in 2018 and 2021 respectively.