Brazil Threesome Is Rolling Along
Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho.
The names rolled off the tongue last summer. They were the “Triple R” strike force, the three who made headlines almost every day en route to that memorable June evening in Yokohama, Japan, when they and the rest of Brazil won the World Cup for an unprecedented fifth time.
The scenes are still fresh in the mind’s eye: Ronaldo and his half-moon haircut celebrating his two goals in the final; Rivaldo holding the trophy on high amid a waterfall of silver confetti; Ronaldinho draped in a Brazilian flag cavorting around the field.
Even Germany, beaten but unbowed, had to admit that the more worthy team won.
The Three Tenors might have lighted up Italy ‘90, USA ’94 and France ‘98, but “the Three R’s” lighted up Korea/Japan ’02.
And since then?
Well, fame and fortune have followed wherever they have gone.
And a fair share of controversy too.
Ronaldo, 26, made the now famous $47-million move from Inter Milan to Real Madrid in September. In the next few weeks, he could add both a Spanish championship and a European Champions Cup to his World Cup winner’s medal.
But he is not entirely settled in Madrid.
Rivaldo, 31, moved in the opposite direction, from Barcelona to AC Milan in July. Even though he is injured, his team is on course to deny Ronaldo and bring the European Champions Cup to Italy instead.
But he is not altogether satisfied in Milan.
Ronaldinho, 23, has not moved -- not yet, anyway -- and is poised to lead Paris Saint-Germain to the French Cup this month.
But he is not at all pleased in Paris.
The three Brazilians might be the present, past and future, respectively, of Brazilian soccer and they might be raking in a fortune at three of the world’s most prestigious clubs, but that doesn’t necessarily add up to contentment.
Just last week, for instance, Ronaldo was bemoaning the fact that even though he scored a memorable hat trick against Manchester United that put Real in the Champions Cup semifinals -- and earned himself a rare standing ovation from opposing fans at Old Trafford -- he still has not won the hearts of Madrid fans.
After Real had beaten United, 3-1, in the first leg of the series in Madrid, Ronaldo was whistled off the field at Santiago Bernabeu stadium for giving what was viewed as a subpar performance.
Asked about it at the time, Ronaldo explained that Madrid’s fans are “like a woman.” “They need to be conquered every day.”
Politically correct? No. True regarding the fans? Probably. Even after Ronaldo’s hat trick in a 4-3 loss in Manchester had clinched Madrid its place in the semifinals, he still had not conquered everyone.
“There are things that I can’t get used to,” he told the Spanish sports daily Marca on Wednesday. “When you score three goals at Manchester, you are at the peak of your career” in the eyes of the fans and the media.
“And then if you fail the next day, you are off-form and overweight.”
Rivaldo’s problems have more to do with his age and the wear and tear on his body than with disgruntled fans.
He turned 31 a couple of weeks ago and the hammering he takes from opposing defenders simply does not heal as fast.
Even so, he was considered valuable enough last summer for Luiz Felipe Scolari, then Brazil’s coach, to have said that despite Ronaldo’s tournament-high eight goals, he believed Rivaldo was “for me, the best player in the World Cup.”
Similarly, Dutch international Patrick Kluivert begged Barcelona to keep Rivaldo.
“We all know that he can decide a game in one moment,” Kluivert said at the time. “It’s important for us to have a player like him in the squad.”
But Rivaldo had a long-standing feud with Louis Van Gaal, whose return as Barcelona’s coach signaled Rivaldo’s departure. It didn’t hurt that Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire owner of AC Milan who also is Italy’s prime minister, actively pursued Rivaldo.
“I spoke with him several times during the [contract] talks,” Rivaldo said when he signed a three-year contract with AC Milan. “I want to thank him for his confidence in me.”
The outcome was predictable. Rivaldo went to AC Milan, which he has helped lead to the Champions Cup semifinals, Barcelona is enduring its worst season ever and midway through it fired Van Gaal. All Kluivert can do is nod and say, “Told you so.”
And so this week the Champions Cup pits Ronaldo and Real Madrid against Juventus in one semifinal, while Ronaldo’s former team, Inter Milan, plays Rivaldo’s current team, AC Milan, in the other.
If things work out as they could, Ronaldo and Rivaldo might be lining up against each other in the May 28 final in, of all places, Manchester.
Meanwhile, as intriguing as the Champions Cup plot lines have become, the focus is rapidly shifting to the youngest of the Triple R trio, Ronaldinho.
Like Ronaldo, he too turned in a sparkling performance recently, scoring two memorable goals for Paris Saint-Germain against Bordeaux last Sunday and propelling PSG into the May 31 French Cup final, where it will play Auxerre.
Ronaldinho was in an exuberant mood, dancing in the center circle after the final whistle and later proclaiming: “Tonight’s match gives me the will to carry on playing as long as I can. When the fans are chanting my name, I want to give my very best.”
But not necessarily to PSG.
The club’s coach, former French World Cup player Louis Fernandez, is on his way out at season’s end, and the coach-to-be, Vahid Halilhodzic, prefers results to style, which can only be bad for a player with Ronaldinho’s flair. And so the rumors fly.
The asking price for the 23-year-old is said to be $50 million. One of the most probable teams in the picture -- especially if it allows David Beckham to join Ronaldo at Real Madrid despite the constant denials -- is Manchester United.
Is the price too high? Not according to Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning coach who is back in charge of the national team.
“Currently, Ronaldinho is the best Brazilian player,” Parreira said recently.
For the moment, though, Ronaldinho is thinking only of the French Cup.
“It will be my first final with PSG, I am already thinking about it,” he said. “I am a crowd-pleaser and it will be great to play at the Stade de France.”
That, of course, was the same stadium where, in 1998, Brazil, with Ronaldo and Rivaldo in the lineup, lost the World Cup to France.
Ronaldinho can only hope he meets with a better luck.
Brazil, meanwhile, has another “R” waiting in the wings for 2006, a 19-year-old player of such phenomenal gifts that Pele has said he might one day rival, well, Pele. Germany should learn the chant now:
Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho.
