Ronaldo: Brazil icon scored twice in the 2002 World Cup final to earn redemption after defeat at France 98
The No 9 had suffered a fit the night before defeat to France four years earlier, but buried nightmares from that game with a brilliant performance
IT had been a turbulent four years for Brazilian master Ronaldo.
Undoubtedly the most dangerous striker in world football at the time, the famous No 9 had not only suffered a string of serious injuries, but had the nightmare of the 1998 World Cup final hanging over his head.
Ronaldo had been a prodigy from a young age.
A star in the Cruzeiro youth system, he was fast-tracked to the first-team and made his debut at just 16 - a year later he was part of the Brazil squad that won the 1994 World Cup, although he did not play.
In four years between 1994 and 1998, Ronaldo established himself as perhaps the greatest player in the world, moving twice for world record fees, from PSV Eindhoven to Barcelona and then to Inter Milan.
In an interview for the book , Ronaldo remembers his early days, the sacrifices his parents made - and World Cup final redemption in Japan in 2002.
"My parents were always very strict about my studies, so football was always more like a hobby. But when I was 12 I started taking it very seriously.
"I started to get bad grades in school, so eventually I dropped the studies to dedicate myself to football.
"I played a lot of indoor football, where you have to carry the ball very close to your feet.
"My parents were at every game I played.
"Deep inside I always appreciate the support that my family gave me, because you never know when you are a child that you will become a real football player."
Ronaldo, who would win the Ballon d'Or twice and two titles with Real Madrid, is considered one of the great players of all-time.
Second only to Pele, Ronaldo 62 goals in 98 caps for the Selecao, winning two World Cups and the Copa America twice.
The striker says representing Brazil at the World Cup was the pinnacle of his illustrious career.
TIGHT-LIPPED
IN MICHAEL DONALD'S GOAL!, the famed photo-journalist tracked down all of the World Cup final goalscorers.
Here's his memory of meeting Ronaldo.
"In his heyday I think he was one of the greatest footballers that ever played.
"Again, he came with a little bit of a entourage and was much harder to get to because we had to deal with an agent.
"But Ronaldo was delightful.
"However, he wouldn't talk about THAT 1998 final, like Mario Zagallo."
"I am very proud and honoured to have been part of the Brazilian team," says Ronaldo, who retired in 2011.
"It's like serving in the army of your country in a war. Playing for the Brazilian squad represents playing for my people… A World Cup is different from any other competition.
"World Cup football, moreover, is not like mathematics where the numbers add up and things are obvious. In a World Cup it’s the same thing: you see the favourite teams playing incredibly and yet end up losing.
"That’s maybe why so many people fall in love with this game."
But heading into the 2002 World Cup, there was a big blemish on his record.
Ronaldo had entered the 1998 World Cup considered the world's best player.
He had been in sensational form in the tournament, scoring four goals for favourites Brazil en route to a final against hosts France - he was later named player of the tournament.
But the night before the final, Ronaldo famously suffered a fit.
O Fenomeno - Ronaldo in numbers
Brazil (1994-2011)
- 62 goals in 98 matches (second all-time top scorer)
- World Cup: 1994, 2002
- Copa America: 1997, 1999
Cruzeiro (1993-94)
- 44 goals in 47 matches
- Campeonato Mineiro: 1994
- Copa do Brasil: 1993
PSV Eindhoven (1994-96)
- 54 goals in 57 matches
- KNVB Cup: 1996
Barcelona (1996-97)
- 47 goals in 49 matches
- Copa del Rey: 1997
- Uefa Cup Winners' Cup: 1997
Inter Milan (1992-2002)
- 59 goals in 99 matches
- Uefa Cup: 1998
Real Madrid (2002-07)
- 104 goals in 177 matches
- La Liga: 2003, 2007
AC Milan (2006-08)
- Nine goals in 20 matches
Corinthians (2009-11)
- 35 goals in 69 matches
- Campeonato Paulista: 2009
- Copa do Brasil: 2009
Individual
- Ballon d'Or: 1997, 2002
- Copa America player of the tournament: 1997
- La Liga foreign player of the year: 1997
- Serie A player of the year: 1998
- Uefa team of the year: 2002
After being rushed to hospital for scans he was initially left off the teamsheet and then added at the last minute, insisting he was fit.
The striker looked completely out of sorts as Zinedine Zidane led Les Bleus to a 3-0 win on home soil.
Four years late Ronaldo, now sporting a wedge haircut, travelled to Japan/South Korea with his reputation in the balance, with injuries liming him to only 24 matches in the previous three seasons.
But any fears over his fitness were quickly dispelled.
Ronaldo scored four goals in the group stage and then in last-16 win over Belgium and the solitary goal against Turkey in the semi-final.
Brazil were playing brilliant football and had reached the final against Germany - surprisingly the first time the two teams had met in a World Cup - but Ronaldo remembers the pre-match preparation was not perfect.
"The journey to the stadium was bad," he said.
"The traffic in Tokyo was very bad and we got stuck for about an hour and a half.
"We were really worried we would be late. We made it, but it made us very anxious."
In the final, Brazil dominated, with Ronaldo missing two good chances in the first half.
His moment would come, however - with the goal receiving mixed feelings from coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
“In training, our coach Scolari had a very big pet hatred of strikers waiting for the rebound from the goalkeeper.
"He was afraid that going after the rebound could injure a player.
"I did it anyway and he would give me a hard time.
"And there he was, punished in the final with a goal scored in exactly that way."
Ronaldo, second all-time with 15 World Cup goals, would score his second goal 12 minutes later, a vintage strike that would be his eighth of the tournament.
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"It was a counter-attack coming from the right with Kleberson, who rolled the ball through the midfield," he remembers.
"Rivaldo heard me screaming to open his legs and I just had the tranquility to master the perfect control and kicked it right in the corner so that Kahn could not reach.
"The feeling is unexplainable. It’s really the pinnacle.
"It is the ultimate sense of satisfaction, pride and accomplishment.
"You win a World Cup, scoring two goals, and, with all the problems I’d had months before, returning from a serious injury, to me it was really a very important time."
© Michael Donald 2017
GOAL! by Michael Donald is published by Hamlyn, £20 (