It is about a quarter to three up at "La Pinetina", Inter Milan's exclusive country club-cum-training ground in the foothills of the Alps, north of Milan. On a gloriously sunny Friday afternoon, the Inter players mill around, kicking a ball backwards and forwards across a net in a game of foot tennis.
The players shout and jostle with each other until an authoritarian voice rings out: "Okay, let's get started . . . Ronnie, come on, you've got to go in and sign up".
The speaker is Inter coach Gigi Simoni and the Ronnie in question is, of course, Ronaldo. Simoni walks over to Ronaldo and tells him again to go off and sign up. Sign up for what? For being late for training, of course. Ronaldo protests in halting Italian: "But boss, it is now a quarter to three and we haven't even started . . . So why should I pay? Who pays anyway? I do and it is not fair."
With an after-tax income of $4 million you might imagine that Ronaldo is not worried about a small fine. He is, however, worried about the principle of the thing, aware that in the difficult world of Serie A, he has got to look after himself, on and off the pitch.
For coach Simoni, the little scene serves to sustain an illusion, necessary for team spirit but hardly based in the economic realpolitik of modern soccer - Ronaldo is hardly just another squad member to whom no special favours are granted.
Muttering and moaning to himself, Ronaldo trots off to sign up, rubbing the back of his thighs as he goes. At 5'10["] and 11st 10lbs, Ronaldo, viewed up close, is an impressive athlete. As you watch him fool around with his compatriot, Ze Elias, during the pre-training jog, you are also reminded that he is still a 21-year-old youngster.
If you look at Ronaldo's diary since arriving in Italy last August, however, you are forcibly reminded that the youngster is also the biggest one-man business in contemporary soccer. Just read his list of engagements, over and above his primary activity which was to play in 17 Serie A games, six UEFA Cup ties and five Italian Cup ties.
Since August he has played in friendlies for Brazil in South Korea and Japan and in the Confederation Cup in Saudi Arabia, finally moved out of his house in Barcelona, made a string of TV ads - for the beer Brahma, milk company Parmalat, Nike plus three at home in Brazil - played in two charity five-a-side competitions, made countless celebrity appearances (including Ferrari's launch and one at Milan's San Vittore prison), went To Disneyland with his girlfriend, and returned to Brazil to sort out his tax affairs. And, of course he went to Paris to collect his world player of the year award.
When, as has happened in the New Year, things go wrong at his club, Ronaldo has had fingers pointed at him (fingers belonging not only to soccer critics, but also to club owner Massimo Moratti).
Inter's 1-0 defeat by Bologna on Sunday completed a miserable cycle of four games when they have dropped eight points, and were knocked off the top of the table by champions Juventus who now lead them by four points.
For Ronaldo, the difficult part comes now, something he admitted at training the other day: "I don't think the fans care about my private business. Ten goals in 17 games here is not bad. The season still has a long way to go, we'll see."
