Comeback king

Ronaldo stakes claim on phenomenal World Cup

MADRID (Reuters) -- In fewer games than most professionals manage to cram into a couple of months of the season Brazilian striker Ronaldo has forced his way to the head of the queue for football's end of year awards.

In fact Ronaldo's "year" effectively boils down to a sensational month at the World Cup, a sparkling debut for his new club Real Madrid and the opening goal in its victory in the World Club Cup.

It would be unjust to his fellow professionals to bestow the European and World honors on the 26-year-old from Rio de Janeiro if they claimed to be a reward for performances over the course of the year.

But if it comes down to global impact then there can only be one choice -- the shaven-headed Brazilian known to millions simply as "The Phenomenon."

In a fairy-tale ending to three years of injury-plagued misery Ronaldo confirmed his rebirth as a player with a stellar performance on the world's greatest footballing stage in South Korea and Japan.

His eight goals in seven games, including a magical double in the 2-0 victory against Germany in the final, marked the difference between Brazil and their rivals in what was one of the most evenly-balanced World Cups in living memory.

His match-winning performance finally allowed him to lay to rest the ghosts of France 98 when he played just hours after suffering a mystery illness in the team hotel.

Looking dazed and lethargic he made a negligible contribution as Brazil lost 3-0 to a French side inspired by Zinedine Zidane.

Brazil's record-breaking fifth title will be remembered as Ronaldo's World Cup in the same way as its 1970 triumph was associated with his predecessor Pele, whose total of 12 World Cup goals the Phenomenon has now equalled.

Explosive pace

The twice winner of FIFA's World Player of the Year award may not quite have recovered the explosive pace of his year at Barcelona, but it is a testament to his skill and natural brilliance that even while not totally fit he was head and shoulders above any other striker in the tournament.

It may also be an indication of the rigors of the footballing calendar that a semi-fit player emerging from three years of career-threatening injury was able to outshine a host of exhausted professionals who arrived at the tournament with up to 60 games under their belts in 12 months.

Ronaldo, however, remains perfectly adapted to lead football's highly-competitive food chain.

He still has a burst of speed that few can match, a dizzying shimmy that bemuses even the best defenders and a rocket-powered shot that fired him to fame in the mid 1990s.

As if his performance in South Korea and Japan was not enough, Ronaldo then became the leading protagonist in the transfer saga of the summer, a tale with more twists than the best of Brazilian soap operas.

Whether he was anxious to banish the memories of five injury-plagued years at Inter, or was keen to escape the confines of Italian football, or just simply could not hack the egalitarian regime of coach Hector Cuper, Ronaldo instructed his agents to get him away from the Serie A club.

He was, of course, welcomed with open arms by European champions Real Madrid, eager to complete its glittering centenary team with the brightest jewel in world football.

Ronaldo's move to Real certainly smacked of ingratitude given that the Italian club had supported him throughout his odyssey of injuries and continued to pay him his reported salary of 4.5 million euros (US$4.60 million) without so much as a whisper of complaint.

Even after the convoluted transfer negotiations were completed -- minutes before the European transfer deadline expired at midnight on August 31 -- Ronaldo continued to hog the headlines as he battled against a series of niggling injuries that delayed his debut for his new club.

It was more than a month before he made his first appearance for his new team, although true to form he scored with almost his first touch after coming on as a second-half substitute against Alaves at the Bernabeu and even grabbed another before the 5-2 rout was complete.

Triumphant return

Two months later and after just a handful of appearances he made a triumphant return to the Yokohama stadium -- the venue for the World Cup final -- and scored the opening goal in Real's 2-0 win over South American champions Olimpia of Paraguay in the World Club Cup.

Ronaldo was named man-of-the-match even though many commentators believed it was his teammate Luis Figo who had turned in the better performance.

But the Brazilian is a marketing man's dream.

He scores his goals in the right places and in front of the right television audiences, his face is recognized in every continent, he collects footballing awards like small change and he hails from the world's most productive football nation.

Ronaldo appears to have it all and yet question marks still remain. Is he capable of surviving the rigors of a full season at a club with both European and domestic commitments or will he spend as much time on the treatment table as on the field?

Can he actually help Real win the league title, a feat he never managed at either Barcelona or Inter and can he add a missing European Cup winners medal to the Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup medals he already has in his collection.

Whatever the doubts about the future, one thing is clear -- Ronaldo is the undisputed comeback king of 2002.

Ronaldo Factbox

1976 - Sept 22, born on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

1988 - Aged 12, signs for his first club, Social Ramos.

1990 - Signs professional terms for Ramos after being rejected by Rio giants Flamengo.

1991 - Moves to second division side Sao Cristovao, scoring 36 goals in 54 games.

1993 - Joins first division Cruzeiro and makes his name in Brazil by scoring 58 times in 60 appearances.

1994 - Aged 17, makes international debut in a 2-1 win over Argentina in March. Included in Brazil's World Cup squad but does not play as the team win the tournament, beating Italy on penalties in the final. In August, signs for PSV Eindhoven for a club record 10.8 million guilders (US$4.70 million).

1994-95 - Finishes season as top scorer in the Dutch first division with 30 goals and helps Brazil to the final of the Copa America.

1995-96 - Scores 12 goals in 13 appearances for PSV before succumbing to his first major knee injury. Undergoes operation in February 1996 and returns as a late substitute in PSV's Dutch Cup final victory. Final record for PSV is 55 goals in 56 games.

1996 - July, moves to Barcelona for a world record US$19.5 million fee.

1996-97 - Makes an instant impact at Nou Camp, scoring several astonishing goals with rampaging runs from the halfway line. Named FIFA World Player of the Year and scores Barcelona's winner in a 1-0 victory over Paris St Germain in the Cup Winners' Cup final. Final record for Barcelona is 33 goals in 38 games.

1997 - June 20, signs a five-year contract with Inter Milan after one of the longest transfer disputes in soccer history. Completes move on September 8 when FIFA orders Inter to pay an additional US$1.8 million to Barcelona, bringing the total fee to a world record US$27.9 million.

1997 - Dec 22, named 1997 European Footballer of the Year in an annual poll organized by France Football magazine.

1998 - Jan 12, named FIFA's World Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

1998 - May 6, scores one goal and inspires Inter to a 3-0 win over Lazio in the UEFA Cup final. His final tally in his first season for Inter is 34 goals in 47 matches.

1998 - July 12, suffers a mysterious illness hours before the World Cup final in France. After first being named as a substitute, he is then included in the starting lineup. He plays badly and Brazil lose 3-0 to France.

1998 - Oct, suffers a series of problems with his knees that drastically reduce his appearances for Inter over the course of the season.

1999 - May, ends the season with six goals in six matches to suggest his problems are behind him. Tally for the season is 15 goals in 26 appearances.

1999 - Oct 23, scores in the Milan derby but is sent off for the first time in his Serie A career.

1999 - Nov 21, scores in a 6-0 defeat of Lecce but then trips on a greasy San Siro pitch and limps off. Inter at first deny he will need surgery.

1999 - Nov 30, undergoes an operation on a ruptured knee-cap tendon at a clinic in Paris.

1999 - Dec 24, marries Brazilian model Milene Domingues in a modest ceremony in Rio.

2000 - April 6, becomes a father when Milene gives birth to a baby boy named Ronald.

2000 - April 12 - makes his comeback as a substitute in the Italian Cup final for Inter after more than four months out. Six minutes later his knee buckles as he launches one of his trademark weaving runs on goal. He is whisked from the pitch on a motorized cart in tears.

2000 - April 13 - flies to Paris for examination by same specialist who carried out November surgery. A painstaking recovery takes more than two years but his comeback is then cut short by a series of frustrating muscular injuries.

2002 - At the start of the year, he is taken back to Brazil from Italy where an eight-strong team of professionals spend one month effectively rebuilding the stricken star. This time it works. The muscular injuries disappear and Ronaldo is ready for his third World Cup.

2002 - June, World Cup top scorer with eight goals in Brazil's triumphant campaign including two in the final against Germany. Joins Pele as the third-highest scorer in World Cup history with 12 goals in the finals.

2002 - Aug, rumors link him with a move to Real Madrid, which says it has been approached by the player's agent.

2002 - Aug 20, announces he wants to leave Inter and would prefer to return to Spain. Inter president Massimo Moratti insists that Ronaldo will play one more season for the Italian club before leaving.

2002 - Aug 22, Real president Florentino Perez and Moratti meet face-to-face in Formentera to discuss a possible transfer deal.

2002 - Aug 23, Talks break down after Real call off bid because of differences over the value of the player.

2002 - Aug 30, As the transfer deadline looms the two clubs restart negotiations and agree a deal which will see the player sign for Real Madrid in a deal worth 45 million euros. Spends the next month nursing a series of niggling injuries that postpone his debut for his new club.

2002 - Oct 6, scores within 60 seconds of making his debut as a substitute during a league game against Alaves. Grabs another goal before the end of the 5-2 win against the Basque side.

2002 - Dec 3, scores the opening goal in Real's 2-0 victory over South American champions Olimpia in the World Club Cup in Yokohama.

2002 - Dec 12, Named World Soccer magazine's Player of the Year.

 

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