Nightmare of '98 returns to haunt Ronaldo
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-14 11:29 Ronaldo has come to Germany accused of being overweight and out of touch.
Before the end of the season he said he no longer had the support of the fans at
Real Madrid and his private life is in turmoil.
But he also arrives having scored 12 goals in the World Cup and needs only
three more to overtake Gerd Muller's all-time record of 14.
Before the tournament started he said: "I know I am not in the greatest form
but I will prepare myself and shut up the critics.
"The World Cup is the greatest motivation for any player. My personal
hurricane will end."
The worry for Ronaldo is, unlike four years ago, Brazil can probably win the
World Cup without him.
Ronaldinho is now their best player, their inspiration and, officially, the
best player in the world.
Scorer Kaka and Adriano had excellent games in midfield, captain Cafu was
inspirational as ever, Juan and Lucio outstanding at the back.
Ronaldo has had bad games before, but this was his 100th appearance for
Brazil -- not all of them in full internationals -- and he has not had too many
worse ones than this.
Apart, of course, from the 1998 World Cup final in Paris.
He bounced back from that one but whether he can spark back to life after
Tuesday's performance will be one of the talking points all over the world
before Brazil meet Australia in their next match on Sunday.
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