Top Ten World Cup Heroes Ronaldo-Brazilian Phenomenon
World Cup Legend
Born luiz Nazario de Lima he was first spotted by the Brazilian legend Jairzinho at 14 years old.He had prolific speed, strength and balance,Ronaldo was under International scrutiny from an early age. His weight and fitness would dominate his career,but it was his outstanding goal scoring ability that would ensure his legendary status and become the World Cup's all time leading scorer.
The Phenomenon
Born on the 22nd September 1976 in Bento Ribeiro, Ronaldo made his debut for Brazil in a friendly against Argentina in 1994,and was selected in the Brazil squad for USA that year but never played a game.
Expectations were high for the 21 year old "Phenomenon" at the 1998 World Cup finals in France as he had already been voted World Player of the Year for the two previous years.Brazil started confidently winning their first two group matches,with Ronaldo scoring in the 3-0 win over Morocco.He also scored twice against Chile as Brazil reached the quarter finals beating Denmark.
In the semi-final against holland, Ronaldo scored first, but were outplayed by the dutch and only reached the semi-final after a penalty shoot-out.
On the eve of the final against France Ronaldo suffered a fit, and was removed from the starting line up an hour before the match,A few minutes before the match, the line-up was rectified: Ronaldo would play.For whatever reason,and we still-don't know.But it remains for those who saw the game,he never really played and the glory was all France's as they lifted the trophy.
World Cup 98
World Cup Glory
The first World Cup of the millennium was held in Korea and Japan. Brazil waltzed through the group stages and The Phenomenon scored in each game.Ronaldo scored six goals on his way to the final ,and against Turkey in the semi-final, he used his strength and pace to move majestically into the Turkish area before toe-poking the ball past goalkeeper Rustu beating them 2-1 and ensuring a final place
A fitting final was played against a robust German team, who played their part and hit the woodwork early on. However it was the brilliant Ronaldo that brought Brazil glory, his quick-thinking 67th minute finish and a beautiful 79th minute shot. These two goals clinched him the Golden Boot award as the World Cup's top scorer and cemented his place in Brazilian World Cup history along with Garrincha and Pele who were almost solely responsible for their World Cup victories.
All eight goals
World Cup Record
By the time the 2006 Word Cup Finals in Germany came along injuries were telling on Ronaldo,and many considered him overweight,but The Phenomenon was not done.He scored two goals against Japan, and when he scored his third goal of the tournament against Ghana he became the all time leading scorer with 15 goals, beating Gerd Muller's tally of 14.
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