Ronaldo announces return to football

Baku.25 February.REPORT.AZ/ Four years after his retirement, Brazil legend Ronaldo has revealed he will return to the pitch with American club Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

The 38-year-old who enjoyed a storied career with some of the biggest clubs in world football, including Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, is a major shareholder in the North American Soccer League (NASL), which is widely viewed as the USA's second tier below the MLS; however, there is no promotion or relegation system over there.

'It's going to happen,' Ronaldo told Lance! magazine, 'I have already said so. But it's going to be a bit later, in the play-offs.'

The two-time World Cup winner has now begun a strict training programme and diet in order to get himself back to professional fitness.

'For now, we are organising it all, but I am going to have a weight goal,' he said.

Ronaldo bought a major stake in Fort Lauderdale Strikers in December 2014 and vowed to 'be very involved with the management of the team,' insisting he had 'already started to make introductions that will certainly help us to turn the Strikers into a global powerhouse.'

Formerly Miami FC, the club was relaunched as the Strikers in 2011.