I'm sitting on the floor with a sheet wrapped around my shoulders. It's June 30th 2002 and I'm at my grandma's assisted living home in St. Petersburg, FL. I'm awake at 5 am to watch the greatest game in the world on the biggest stage. The World Cup Final in Yokohoma, Japan. The Final matches up the two biggest powers in World Football. Brazil vs. Germany. Going into the Final, the two countries combined for 7 World Cup victories and 12 final appearances in the previous 16 World Cups. However, not only had they never met in a final, they had never played each other in any World Cup game. Until the Final of 2002.
It was the classic matchup. Strength against speed. Organized vs free flowing. Defensive vs offensive. Europe vs South America. And finally Oliver Kahn(leading goalkeeper) vs Ronaldo(leading goal scorer). The stage was set to decide who had ultimate supremacy in the world of football.
I sat there on the floor pretending to have a nation's flag wrapped around me, that was actually just a white sheet. Even though I like both countries, there was no doubt in my mind whose nation's flag I was pretending to have. It was Brazil's. And one of the biggest reasons why was because of Ronaldo. The first professional sports jersey I ever had was Ronaldo's Brazilian #9.
The game in my mind lived up to the hype(even the refereeing was superb).
"He's tied Pele!"
"Redemption for Ronaldo"
Those words from Jack Edwards, as Ronaldo scored his second goal of the game to lead Brazil to a 2-0 victory, will forever be in my head.
It truly was redemption for Ronaldo. Back in the 1998 Final, Brazil lost to France 3-0. The night before that Final Ronaldo had suffered a seizure. He played well below his abilities and looked extremely fatigued during the match. In international football opportunities and chances don't come around much. He had to live with that for 4 years. During those 4 years he had two knee surgeries and people didn't even know if he would be back. Let alone back to his ability level.
Ronaldo went on to score 8 goals in the 7 games he played in the 2002 World Cup. He did tie Pele with that second goal in the final to match his 12 total World Cup goals with Pele's. He went on to score 3 more in the 2006 World Cup to pass Gerd Muller for the all-time leader in World Cup goals at 15.
Ronaldo suffered from injuries throughout his career and weight problems from hypothyroidism towards the end, but somehow he always found a way to be at his best when he put his Brazil jersey on for the World Cup. In my mind, he will always be one of the best finishers in World Cup history.
THE One and Only Ronaldo!
Check out all 15 World Cup goals here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEKyl2yakOE
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