2002 World Cup Star : Ronaldo

2002 World Cup Star : Ronaldo

                                                                                                                                               

For South America’s football reporters the name is like music with a ball: Rooooooooooooonaldo! They adore him, the new millennium’s first superstar.

In Brazil, the five-time FIFA World Cup winners, the man is the outstanding representative of success’ third generation. The FIFA Player of the Century, Pele represents the period between 1958 and 1970 and therefore Brazil’s three “Coupe Jules Rimet” wins. Idol, Romario stands for the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ triumph.

2002 World Cup Golden Boot winner, Ronaldo before Brazil’s game against Turkey. The Brazilian could replace the German Gerd Müller as the World Cup’s leading goal scorer. GES/Augenklick

Ronaldo represents modern day Brazilian football. His name is linked with the FIFA World Cup™ triumph in Japan and South Korea in 2002. The  ease, the explosiveness and the artistry that marked Ronaldo’s football excited people in 213 countries around the globe. 30 billion viewers watched the Brazil spectacle and the Ronaldo spectacle. The outstanding team’s – seven wins in seven games – FIFA World Cup™ victory was crowned by the magician. Today, Ronaldo is just as famous as a Big Mac from McDonalds. Ronaldo – it’s a brand name like Coca-Cola or Mercedes. Ronaldo Luiz Nazario da Lima, born on 22 September 1976 is the man with the No 9 on the canary yellow jersey. The 17th FIFA World Cup™ from 30 May to 30 June 2002 turned out to be a triumphal procession for Ronaldo. He scored eight goals in seven games. In the tournament’s last 90 minutes in Yokohama on 30 June 2002 he twice put the ball past the German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn (67th and 79th minutes). Germany finished runners-up and Kahn, who the Germans had affectionately nicknamed “Titan”, had found his match. Ronaldo had led his Brazilians to their fifth title. He had his magic wand and turned his team-mates and himself into champions of the world. However, he was actually already able to call himself a FIFA World Cup™ winner.  For he was a member of the 22 player squad in USA in 1994. In those days the striker wore the No 20 on his back, but, as a youngster, he didn’t play in a single match.

After an unfortunate 1998 World Cup in France, Ronaldo, seen here in the semi-final between Brazil and Turkey, became the tournament’s top striker four years later in Japan and Korea. GES/Augenklick

Ronaldo is also a FIFA World Cup™ runner-up. He belonged to Brazil’s team in France in 1998. By that time his shirt was adorned with the No 9. He played seven times and scored four goals. However, second places don’t count for so much in Brazil as they do in other countries. The 3-0 defeat in the final against France is one to be erased from the memory.
For the turbo-powered classy forward took on the role as tragic hero in the final. He felt faint before the final and was in a hospital bed until noon on the day of the game. His stomach and ankle were also examined. Not his but Edmundo’s name was on the team sheet up to 7.48 in the evening. Officials only decided at the last minute to let Ronaldo play. It wasn’t his day.
His comeback was made perfect in Yokohama. It was one many didn’t think he was capable of after four years in the football doldrums. The four years of being plagued by injuries, operations on his knee as well as the countless visits to hospitals and rehabilitation centres made Renaldo more of an invalid than a hero. The return of the so-called “Il Fenomeno” to football’s world stage then proceeded to go off highly spectacularly.
“The two goals in the final meant a lot to me. I had a bad feeling until the first goal and thought, it’s not going to be my day. Kahn had made a couple of good saves. Suddenly the total joy was there, just like after every goal,” is how Ronaldo described his feelings in the final.
Two months after the FIFA World Cup™, Ronaldo again provided the headlines when he was transferred from Inter Milan to Real Madrid for 45 million Euro. Ronaldo and the “white ballet” – they were made for each other. The three-time FIFA World Player of the Year has one big ambition: to defend the title at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany.