It is hardly surprising, then, that Mano is emphasising the importance of the tournament in giving experience to some of his younger players.
But as Brazil stride forwards there is also time for a glance in the other direction with a couple of warm up friendlies – and not just because Saturday’s match against Holland is inevitably being billed as a shot at revenge for last year’s World Cup quarter final.
The following Wednesday the crowd in Sao Paulo will have an opportunity to say goodbye to the great Ronaldo, who will play a few minutes of the match against Romania.
I have to be honest. I am not a big fan of this idea of farewell games – which will no doubt be seen by some as an outbreak of Anglo-Saxon lack of sentiment. The Brazil side have serious business at hand, and Ronaldo had his farewell when he walked off the pitch after the defeat to France in the 2006 quarter final. Why bother with this last curtain call? This is football, not a circus.
But if it has to happen, then the Brazil team has few more deserving cases for such an occasion than Ronaldo, one of the greatest strikers ever to grace the game, and a key symbol of the modern era. As recently as twenty years ago, the Brazil national team were an entity that, in the European mind, only seemed to exist every four years. Nowadays they are a constant presence, and Ronaldo was the most important figure in this process. There is even a film about Tibetan monks (’The Cup’) in which he features.
A product of globalised football, Ronaldo is also a citizen of the world of whom the game can be proud. A shy, poor kid from a broken home in Rio’s dreary suburbs, his life prospects were not promising. Football has given him opportunities and he has taken them, and seems to have emerged as a man of wealth and confidence, composed, intelligent and thoughtful, a doting father and an interesting figure.
Ronaldo’s international journey began when he left Cruzeiro to join PSV in Holland just after the 1994 World Cup. In fact he moved to Europe at exactly the same time as I made the trip in the opposite direction – which from Brazil’s point of view I always saw as a very unfortunate swap.
At least for 12 years Brazil could count on a truly magnificent centre forward – when, of course, Ronaldo was not recovering from knee injuries so severe they would have ended the career of a less determined man.
Along with his growth as a person came his growth as a player. When he exploded with Barcelona in the second half of 1996 it was common to hear in Brazil that Ronaldo was a one trick pony, that he had a devastating burst of acceleration and nothing else. It was always a harsh verdict. For one thing, he was probably the fastest player ever running with the ball – not a trick to be belittled. For another, he was always – even at the age of 17 – one of football’s truly great natural finishers. The calm in his mind was reflected in his body. He would slow down at exactly the right time, keep his head still and pick his spot with the calm of an engineer making calculations.
It is true, though, that joining Inter Milan forced him to develop other skills. Playing alongside a penalty area specialist like Cristian Vieri obliged Ronaldo to learn to drop deeper and combine with his team-mates, to suck in the defence and slip passes for the midfield runner – abilities which proved useful towards the end of his playing days with Corinthians, when increased brain power compensated for decreased mobility.
His crowning glory, of course, was the 2002 World Cup. It seemed impossible that he would be fit in time, but he recovered to dominate the tournament. In fact, his contribution to Brazil’s victory is often underestimated, especially by those in Europe who did not see how truly dreadful Brazil were in qualification, when he was absent through injury. When he returned Brazil effectively gained two top class players, because Ronaldo always had the gift of bringing the best out of Rivaldo. The lanky left footer was uncomfortable with the burden of carrying Brazil’s attack, and was never able to form a relationship with any other striker in the national team. But he and Ronaldo clicked – perhaps Ronaldo’s calm acceptance of responsibility was just what Rivaldo needed.
The two goals that Ronaldo scored in the final provided a fairy tale end to one of the great comebacks in sport – many, myself included, were of the opinion that those knee problems would prevent Ronaldo from returning to top level football. How wonderful it was to be proved wrong!
My favourite memory of Ronaldo, though, does not come from the 2002 World Cup. It comes from a couple of years later, June 2004, when Brazil hosted Argentina in World Cup qualification.
Ronaldo was aware that this was the biggest game he would play for the national team on home soil – and to add some extra spice, the match was taking place in Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium, the very stage where he had first made his name with Cruzeiro a decade before.
The big occasion was usually the scene for Ronaldo to produce something special. Argentina played most of the football, weaving pretty patterns all over the pitch. But they had no way of coping with Ronaldo. Three times he produced inspired solo bursts through their defence. Three times he was brought down. Three times he got up to score from the penalty spot. Brazil won 3-1. It was like watching a creature from another planet, faster, stronger, sharper than the mere humans who were trying to stop him.
That is the way that I will remember Ronaldo, and no scenes of him wandering around the Pacaembu pitch against the Romanians can possibly enhance those memories.
