Ronaldo may be coming to MLS sooner than you think

	Slammed for his fitness and saddled with much of Brazil's failure in Germany, Ronaldo could be looking for a fresh start. Denis Doyle/Getty Images
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- The drums are still pounding here as Brazil won the Beach Soccer World Cup, and there are plenty of things to talk about. The 330-pound guy behind me banging a drum. Bikini-clad women on Copacabana beach. Carnaval. Even Barry Manilow, who just performed here.

But I was among a bunch of journalists who were chatting with French legend Eric Cantona, who coached France to the beach title last year, the first time FIFA oversaw this tournament. The topic of conversation? Ronaldo.

"Oh, le petit Ronaldo," Cantona said. "One day Rio, the next Holland. A star in Catalonia, an idol in Italy and a god in Spain. And he is ready to discover l'Amerique!"

I have to take Cantona at his word. The man knows too much; he lights up when he's talking about Ronaldo. And the final chapter for one of Brazil's most famous players of all-time is set to be written. New York awaits him.

The next step, after being called a "non-athlete" by his coach and having almost certainly lost his place on the Brazilian national team, seems to be America. "The one and only place I feel normal, common, me," he said to me after the 2002 World Cup in one of the many private talks I've had with him. "Where I can walk and be myself, doing what I want."

Knowing Ronaldo as a man, not as a player, there is no doubt in my mind that America is the place he dreams about, ever since he first visited. It's New York he loves most, the first U.S. city where he felt a connection. And it's the city where doors are opening for him to come to Major League Soccer.

No, at 30, he's not the same player he once was. People have already written him off, saying he can no longer play at the top level. Do not fool yourself. Ronaldo is not finished yet. And MLS is definitely not an "elephant cemetery," where old, tired players go to end their footballing days.

Ronaldo has bounced back before, and has what it takes to do it again. Days after Brazil failed at the World Cup last summer, where he became the all-time leading scorer in the world's biggest sporting event, Ronaldo was back in New York. As the United Nations and a Brazilian bank planned a Ronaldo-endorsed credit card, he found solace in the back streets of Greenwich Village. No angry, screaming Brazilians. Only peace.

New York is where Ronaldo can escape his own personal nightmare. And the gears are turning. Talks with the New York Red Bulls have taken place and continue after an earlier deal reportedly collapsed. Many believe a preliminary agreement has already been reached. Another person close to Ronaldo has said that Red Bulls management has already agreed to acquire him and has allocated the budget needed to attract him. It's just a question of timing.

Now that the so-called "Beckham Rule" has been enacted by MLS owners, where one player on each team won't count against the salary cap, the final stumbling block is out of the way.