Ronaldo Is Back for Brazil
The spotlight was back on Ronaldo, and this time he shined.
After a lackluster World Cup start, Ronaldo scored two goals Thursday night to lead Brazil to a 4-1 victory over Japan at Dortmund, Germany, to clinch first place in Group F.
“I have complete knowledge of my possibilities, of my condition,” Ronaldo said. “I knew I arrived at a level below my teammates, and that I would have to work really hard to reach them.”
Ronaldo arrived for the World Cup overweight and was heavily criticized after the sluggish performances in the early games.
The goals moved Ronaldo into a tie with Gerd Mueller of West Germany for the most goals in World Cup history with 14. Ronaldo said he never had a doubt he would regain his scoring touch.
Thursday, Ronaldo finally appeared close to top form. He tied the score at 1-1 with a header a minute into first-half injury time, moving past Pele as Brazil’s all-time leading World Cup scorer. He was set up by Real Madrid teammate Cicinho, who sent him the ball with a header across the area.
Ronaldo scored his second goal in the 81st minute, with a right-footer near the top of the box after a setup by defender Juan.
“Ronaldo is back,” Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. “We believe he’s special. We must have confidence in our football, and today we played more like Brazilians, we kept the ball for longer periods.”
With its second-round berth already secured, Brazil fielded five reserve players and got goals from two of them, Juninho and Gilberto. But it was Ronaldo who was the star in Brazil’s record 10th consecutive World Cup victory.
“I’m very happy with my performance, with the two goals and with Brazil’s victory,” he said. “Now it’s time to rest and think about the round of 16.”
Brazil will play Ghana in the second round Tuesday back in Dortmund.
Japan is headed back home after finishing last in the group with one point, failing to repeat its second-round appearance from when it was co-host of the 2002 tournament.
Australia 2, Croatia 2 -- It took the Socceroos 32 years to get back to the World Cup. No wonder they wanted to prolong their stay.
Harry Kewell scored from close range to give Australia a draw with Croatia at Stuttgart and send the Aussies into the second round alongside Brazil from Group F.
Croatia took the lead in the second minute on a dipping free kick by Dario Srna. Craig Moore equalized for Australia with a penalty kick in the 39th minute after Stjepan Tomas handled the ball in the box.
Croatia went up again in the 56th minute on a goalkeeping blunder by Zeljko Kalac, who started for regular goalie Mark Schwarzer. Croatia captain Niko Kovac shot from about 20 yards, and the ball rolled over Kalac’s hands.
But Kewell put home a short shot in the 79th minute off a scramble in the area, and Australia was headed for a matchup with Italy in Kaiserslautern on Monday.
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Goal leaders
All-time World Cup scoring leaders:
*--* G Player Country, Years 14 Gerd Mueller West Germany ‘70, ’74 14 Ronaldo Brazil ‘94, ‘98, ‘02, ’06 13 Just Fontaine France ’58 12 Pele Brazil ‘58, ‘62, ‘66, ’70 11 Juergen Klinsmann Germany ‘90, ‘94, ’98 11 Sandor Kocsis Hungary ’54 10 Gabriel Batistuta Argentina ‘94, ‘98, ’02 10 Teofilo Cubillas Peru ‘70, ’78 10 Gary Lineker England ‘86, ’90 10 Grzegorz Lato Poland ‘74, ‘78, ’82 10 Helmut Rahn West Germany ‘54, ’58
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Source: FIFA
