The path to glory can be a painful one. Ronaldo, one of Brazil’s greatest strikers, can attest to that.
The big question at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan centered on Ronaldo and whether he could exorcise the ghosts of four years earlier.
In the 1998 final in Paris, Ronaldo turned in a subdued performance against host France and Brazil lost 3-0. Brazil’s underperformance was blamed on the health of Ronaldo.
To the shock of just about everyone, Brazil coach Mario Zagallo left his main striker out of his starting lineup, apparently for health reasons. Years later, Ronaldo said he had a seizure earlier in the day.
Whatever happened that night, Ronaldo endured a series of injuries thereafter and was lucky to make the trip to Asia.
Ecuador referee Byron Moreno during his controversial control of the match between South Korea and Italy.
Armed with a curious haircut involving a triangular wedge on the front of his head, Ronaldo was the main attraction. But few thought he could recapture the sort of form that made him the world’s most feared striker in the run-up to the 1998 World Cup.
He proved all the skeptics wrong.
With eight goals during the 2002 World Cup, including his two precise finishes in the final that finished off Germany, Ronaldo scored more times in a tournament than anyone since West Germany forward Gerd Muller in 1970.
His goals helped Brazil reclaim the crown it lost on that curious night at Stade de France.
Brazil, led by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, won an unprecedented fifth World Cup.
Ronaldo of Brazil celebrates after scoring opening goal during the Germany v Brazil, World Cup Final match played at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan on June 30, 2002. Photo: FIFA
Ronaldo was back in the Brazil team that went to Germany in 2006, a World Cup many expected it to win — not least because the striker was partnered up front by Rivaldo and Kaka. That didn’t quite pan out with France winning 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
With another three goals in 2006, he became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 15 — a record since overtaken by Germany striker Miroslav Klose.
No matter, though, because Ronaldo had been well and truly redeemed.
This world cup set a number of precedents. It was the first World Cup to be held in Asia. No previous World Cup was held on a continent other than Europe or the Americas.
It was also the first World Cup to be jointly hosted by more than one nation., South Korea and Japan. Finally, this was the last event to use the golden goal rule.
Brazilian captain Cafu kissing the trophy. Photo: FIFA
Four nations, China, Ecuador, Slovenia and Senegal, made their first ever appearance in a World Cup final tournament.
The tournament had several upsets and surprise results which included the defending champions France being eliminated in the group stage after earning a single point and second favourites Argentina also being eliminated in the group stage.
Additionally, Turkey took third place and South Korea managed to reach the semi-finals, beating Spain, Italy and Portugal en route. However, the most potent team at the tournament, Brazil, prevailed and they became the first and to date the only nation to win five World Cups, as well as the only team to win all their matches throughout the tournament.
There was much controversy over the refereeing in the tournament. Questionable decisions in the Italy-South Korea match resulted in 400,000 complaints, and featured in ESPN's 10 most fabled World Cup controversies.
The Spain-South Korea match featured two controversially disallowed Spanish goals, which Iván Helguera referred to as "a robbery" and led to Spanish press brandishing the officials "thieves of dreams," though FIFA dismissed the incident as human error.
Referees from both the South Korea-Italy and South Korea-Spain match later went on to face criminal charges for corruption and drug trafficking.