When George Best made his debut in the red and yellow hoops of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers back in 1978, the club’s Lockhart Stadium was packed to capacity as fans flocked to see the Northern Irish genius.Best was past his prime, of course, alcohol and the playboy lifestyle having taken its toll, but he could still offer glimpses of his greatness and scored twice in a 5-3 win over the New York Cosmos.When, on Wednesday, Brazilian Ronaldo made his first public appearance as a minority owner of the reformed Strikers of the second division NASL, it was in a meeting room in a side corridor, next to a hotel casino.The media had been teased that Ronaldo might become more than just a 10% shareholder in the club and that he could announce his comeback at the age of 38, four years after his knees had told him his time was up at the end of a wonderful but injury-ravaged career.It appeared an unlikely prospect and as Ronaldo took his place on a podium, filled with nine men in suits, most of them Brazilian businessmen, it seemed silly to even raise the issue.Inevitably though, the question was put, prompting a sheepish grin from a man who did not look in the peak of physical shape. “That is not easy…when I retired, I stopped playing because of my body, so much pain and injuries,” he said.“I will train a lot, and if the coach needs me, maybe,” he said before, perhaps realising this wasn’t quite the hype his business partners wanted to hear, adding that he would like to play if the Strikers were to reach the final of the NASL’s playoffs.
If the idea of Ronaldo going into Rocky Balboa mode and running along with the Fort Lauderdale beach to get in shape for a game against the Ottawa Fury seems far-fetched it does fit into a pattern of remarkable ideas being thrown out by the Brazilian consortium who bought the club last year.
Reformed in 2011, out of the embers of the struggling second division club Miami FC, the Strikers have been playing at the original club’s Lockhart Stadium in front of crowds which rarely pass 3,000.
With David Beckham planning to start an MLS team in the near future in neighbouring Miami and with no promotion or relegation, the Strikers chances of progressing to something bigger look limited. Perhaps the Strikers could survive by focusing on becoming a community club, developing and selling young players. But that sort of modest, realistic goal doesn’t appear to appeal to the new owners.
When Ronaldo’s role was announced in December, the quote provided from the former Inter and Real Madrid forward, was that he wanted to turn the Strikers into a “global powerhouse” . There has been no shortage of hyperbole coming from the men in suits.
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