WORLD CUP USA ’94 : THINGS TO COME : Brazil’s Ronaldo Might Not Be Pele, but He and Others Provide a Look at the Future

Pele wrote soccer history with his feet and it all started when he made his glittery World Cup debut in 1958 at age 17 in Sweden, guiding Brazil to the championship.

Thirty-six years later, another 17-year-old unknown forward has found himself on a team of Brazilian all-stars. He too is known by one name--Ronaldo. The temptation to even mention Pele and Ronaldo in the same sentence has proved irresistible.

A soccer sin, apparently.

“There is one Jesus Christ. There is one Martin Luther King. And there is only one Pele,” says Alfredo Souza Gama, a radio broadcaster from Recife, who has followed Brazilian soccer for more than 20 years.

Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is nearly as emphatic, saying: “There will be not another Pele. The only thing similar they share is that they were 17 years old in the World Cup. He has his own style.”

Which is true. Ronaldo, who has few problems shaking a defender, has yet to shed his braces. He smiles often and his braces shine in the sun, but Ronaldo turns a bright shade of red when he is asked when they will be removed.

“By the end of the year,” he says, still blushing.

Do they hurt?

Ronaldo recovers his poise and laughs, saying: “Only when I get hit in the mouth with a ball.”

The sight of Ronaldo conducting interviews and sharing the practice field with the legendary likes of Romario and Bebeto would have been unthinkable a year ago. Then, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima was playing for an obscure second-division team, Sao Cristovao. His personal Colonel Parker was Jairzinho, a star player on the last Brazilian team to win the World Cup in 1970.

Jairzinho spotted future greatness in the youngster from an impoverished background, plucked him out of the minor leagues and got him a deal with Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte. Ronaldo proved to be a deadly goal-scoring machine, scoring 55 goals in his first 57 games. He is an ambidextrous threat, equally accurate with either foot.

Already, Ronaldo is being utilized by the Brazilian government as an example to his peers. He was recently selected to serve as a spokesman to help get out the vote for this fall’s presidential elections. Voting is optional for 16 and 17 year olds. Ronaldo will turn 18 on September 22.

Here, in the days before Brazil’s World Cup opener against Russia, Ronaldo’s teammates are supportive and try not to offer intrusive advice.

“This is very unusual and different--you have to take into account his age,” midfielder Rai said.

Said Bebeto: “He is here because he has gained the right to be here.”

As you might guess, Ronaldo is not expected to play much during the World Cup. At least not as long as Bebeto and Romario remain uninjured. It would seem he will be somewhat of an understudy, waiting and watching and learning from his elders.

Naturally, Parreira revealed nothing about his plans for Ronaldo.

“You never know. We have five strikers and he is one of them. Any one of them could play,” Parreira said.

Said Ronaldo: “I worked to be here. I am looking for an opportunity to show myself, what I can do.”

For Ronaldo, the constant comparisons to Pele don’t unnerve him in the least. He seems to understand why fans as well as journalists continue to search for the next Pele, even though the quest may be futile and unrealistic.

“I feel very proud about it, calm and tranquil about what people are saying about me. It doesn’t bother me,” Ronaldo said.

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Almost a half-generation ahead of Ronaldo is 25-year-old striker Dennis Bergkamp of the Netherlands. Similar to the Jairzhino-Ronaldo connection, Bergkamp was “discovered” at age 12 and coached in the exclusive youth club Ajax by former Dutch great Johan Cruyff.

Born and raised in Amsterdam, Bergkamp was named by his father after Manchester United and Scotland striker Denis Law. Bergkamp will be forced to shoulder more of the scoring load since the Dutch team will be without Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit, who walked out of training camp.

Bergkamp, who came into international prominence with his performance at the 1992 European Championship, left his native country and played for Inter Milan in Italy this season. By all accounts, it was anything but easy as Bergkamp received an undue amount of criticism.

Still, Bergkamp received partial redemption when he picked up his scoring late in the season when the stakes were higher. Bergkamp had decided to leave for Italy only when his Ajax teammate Wim Jonk decided to play in Milan. Bergkamp, a cool finisher, has been among the elite the last couple of seasons, finishing behind only Roberto Baggio of Italy last year and Van Basten in 1992 in World Soccer’s voting for player of the year.

In Spain, 5-10 midfielder Julen Guerrero of first-division Athletic Bilbao is part of what was considered a risky youth movement on the part of outspoken coach Javier Clemente. Guerrero, 20, is the second-youngest player to represent Spain, behind the legendary Zubieta, who made his national team debut as a 17-year-old in 1936.

Guerrero was voted the most promising prospect in the Spanish league in the 1992-93 season by Don Balon, the premier soccer publication in Spain. The newspaper, El Pais, took a poll of club coaches and named Guerrero the best native player this season. And, of course, one true indicator of how highly a player is regarded rests in comparison to others.

Most often, Guerrero is called the Basque Laudrup. Laudrup is Michael Laudrup, the star player from Denmark. Guerrero showed a hint of his vast potential a year ago when he scored two goals in a four-minute span against Latvia in a Cup qualifying match.

Guerrero, who has scored 28 league goals in two seasons, has other interests in addition to soccer. He takes piano classes and is a first-year journalism student.

“I’d say my best quality is that I’m good at sniffing out goals, if not for myself, then for others,” Guerrero said in a recent interview.

The United States has Cobi Jones and his dreadlocks. Colombia has Valderrama, who looks like Cousin It from the Addams Family rests on top of his head.

Interesting hair is not limited to players from North America and South America, however. Sweden’s Henrik Larsson, a 22-year-old striker, sports dreadlocks. Larsson, who plays for Feyenoord in Holland, had an impressive six-month stretch, which earned him a spot on the World Cup team.

Since he has limited international experience, Larsson is not expected to start. Should Sweden have problems scoring, however, expect Larsson to come off the bench as a late substitute.

Larsson is swift and possesses good control with a sharpness in the box. Already, he has scored a highly significant goal for Sweden. It was on Oct. 13 against Finland and Larsson’s header broke a 1-1 tie and put the Swedes ahead for good. Sweden won, 3-2, and Israel’s upset over France put the Swedes into the World Cup for the second consecutive time.

Nikos Machlas, the youngest member of the Greek national team, turned 21 the day before the World Cup opened, and already he is something of a veteran.

“He’s mature,” said Gregory Zikos, liaison for the Greek team. “Nikos is not spoiled. He’s not a typical 21-year-old who thinks he has the world at his feet.”

Possessing an impressive pedigree, the striker followed in his father George’s path and joined OFI Crete at age 17 and has played almost 100 matches in Greece’s first division.

He scored in his national team debut and his second goal was the winning goal in Greece’s 1-0 victory over Russia, which secured first place in Group 5 World Cup qualifying.

The ensuing celebration--massive fireworks--turned the stadium into a smoke chamber and the game was temporarily suspended because no one could see anything on the field.

In the World Cup, Machlas is expected to be seen.