Corinthians head coach Mano Menezes on Friday said Ronaldo is as important to the soccer club as Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt to Jamaican national athletics team, Xinhua reported.
Menezes believes that Ronaldo's return to the Brazilian Championship will be equivalent to Usain Bolt's importance to the Jamaican athletic team in his recent conquests in the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.
"It is good that Ronaldo is not as fast as Bolt. If he was, he would be too quick and arrive before the ball does, missing multiple opportunities to score goals," Menezes said.
Ronaldo is out of action after his left hand surgery and liposuction to remove his remaining stomach fat and expected to be back in late September.
During his absence, Corinthians dropped to the sixth place in the Brazilian Championship.
The team hopes that the striker's return will spark the team's effort to win this year's title, just as Jamaica hopes that Bolt's presence will lead them to win the 4x100m in Saturday's final.