So, there he was, the world's (ex) number one footballer, Brazilian Ronaldo, all dressed up in a dinner jacket and sitting around in a plush ballroom in the chique Hotel Plaza in downtown Basel, Switzerland. At his side sat his fiance, Susana Werner, while around the table were members of his family and friends. Behind them, on the floor, a troupe of 20 Brazilian dancers were going through a distinctly Carnevale-type routine.
So, what was going on? Were we drowning our sorrows? After all, it would be stretching things more than a little to suggest that the last 12 months have been a tale of uninterrupted success for Ronaldo. His current bad run began with Brazil's defeat by France in last summer's World Cup final and has continued right through this club season from which he has been largely absent due to injury. Without him, Inter Milan has sunk to a wretched ninth position and is in grave danger of missing out on European competition (even on the midsummer InterToto).
If it were any other player, he might have little to celebrate. Yet, Ronaldo is not any other player, rather a Grade A marketing tool used by a variety of multinational sponsors at the cutting edge of the global economy. Ronaldo might have had difficulty running for a bus for most of this winter, yet here he was in Switzerland last week for the launch of yet another product bearing his name - this time a R9 wristwatch, made by the Geneva firm of Montega and retailing for prices ranging from IR£3,000 (steel) through to £24,000 (platinum).
To be fair to Ronaldo and Montega, however, it has to be pointed out that this latest endorsement by the world's highest paid footballer (IR£6.5 million per annum according to France Football last week) comes with a laudable charitable operation attached. A percentage of the profits generated by the sales of the new R9 wristwatch will be devolved to a charitable foundation run in Ronaldo's name near Rio di Janeiro and called the Sao Cristovao R9 Institute.
With the help of R9, a new sports complex will be built on a 100,000 square metre site donated by the State of Rio de Janeiro. If all goes according to plan, Ronaldo and Inter Milan will be on hand to inaugurate the new complex by the end of this year, thanks to a further contribution from yet another Ronaldo sponsor, tyre giant, Pirelli.
Under the overall umbrella of " Inter Campus", and much boosted by Ronaldo's raised funds, six local youth clubs have each organised four centres for up to 200 boys between the age of nine and 13. The boys are taught soccer, while also receiving the basics of a formal education from a 48-strong teaching staff. What is more, it is all for free.
Such a laudable enterprise, however, does little to impress the Inter fans whose patience with Ronaldo finally ran out 10 days ago after Inter lost 3-1 at home to Udinese. As the Brazilian's car emerged from the underground car park at the San Siro, it became the focus of fan anger with bottles, bricks and stones being thrown and with one of the bottles hitting the following car which contained some of Ronaldo's relatives, including two very frightened little nephews.
The incident even prompted Ronaldo to immediately start talking in interviews midweek in Barcelona about maybe leaving Inter. Ronaldo had gone to play for Brazil against Barcelona in a game that formed part of the Catalan club's centenary celebrations. Furthermore, far from the media stress and footballing strain of San Siro, Ronaldo reportedly played his best match of the season.
Which may well explain why Ronaldo's agents recently (and rather optimistically) suggested that his current market value had doubled in the last year (current asking price, IR£40 million). Talk about the success of failure...
In the meantime, Englishman Roy Hodgson, called on last week to take over the Inter ship for a four game stretch to the end of the season, is hoping that Ronaldo can finally deliver the goods on the pitch and score a few important goals. That is, after all, what he is paid to do isn't it?
Ronaldo has had unhappy season.
