Ronaldo swaps World Cup hell for World Cup heaven

It wasn’t a final over which to drool.

It wasn’t a glamorous advertisement for ‘jogo bonito’ - the beautiful game - as we all had hoped.

But try telling Ronaldo that the day Brazil won their fifth World Cup was not the sweetest, most delicious moment in a troubled and traumatic career.

Four years after lumbering around the Stade de France in a daze after suffering mysterious convulsions Ronaldo embraced the World Cup on a steamy night in Yokohama after scoring both Brazil goals in an intriguing but rarely thrilling final in which Brazil beat Gernmany 2-0.

Ronaldo cried tears of joy, he was chaired around the Yokohama pitch on the shoulders of teammates. After hell, he was in heaven.

His goals were Brazil’s first in the last three World Cup finals, they were goals which earned Ronaldo the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading scorer with eight goals.

And they were goals which at last made sense of this madcap World Cup with all its twists and turns and unpredictable results.

When Ronaldo gave way for Denilson with just one minute remaining you couldn’t help feeling that justice and redemption had gone hand in hand.

That Brazil deserved to win is indisputable.. They created all the best chances, they lit up the night with sparkling bursts even if the game at times did fall again into pits of mediocrity.

It was that sort of final, played in fits and starts, with Germany giving as good as they got for long periods.

The tactics of this final were never anything other than transparent. It was a question of the individual brilliance of Brazil pitted against the ruthless pragmatism of a German side which just nine months ago was branded the worst German team in living memory after its 5-1 defeat by England.

Coach Rudi Voeller had admitted as much when he insisted his aim was to ‘‘neutralise’’ the menace of Brazil’s greatest talents. A horrible word that, but it summed up perfectly Germany’s intentions as they entered a final without their most enterprising player, the suspended Michael Ballack.

The fact is that however low a German side appears it always seems to find a way of working a route through a tournament. As it was for much of the first-half Germany were by far the better team, organised and rhythmic in their approach play - and yet Brazil might have gone in at the interval at least three goals or more to the good.

Three times Ronaldo had a clear sight of goal, only to be twice denied by the outstanding Kahn and once put the ball wide when he should have done better.

A truly match fit Ronaldo would have buried such opportunities but there was a lethargy about his movement which suggested he was not yet over the muscular problems which have surfaced this past month when, for the first time in four years, he has been required to put together back-to-back performances.

Twice also Kleberson might have scored, dragging one left-foot shot wide of the post and seeing a right-footer from 20 yards thunder back off the crossbar with Kahn beaten.

It seemed the World Cup gods were with Deutschland as they have been so often during the history of this tournament.

They gave further warning at the start of the second-half when a Jens Jeremies header was diverted from goal by Edmilson and Oliver Neuville’s raking free-kick was spectacularly tipped onto a post by Marcos.

But when the first goal came in the 66th minute it was almost inevitable it would be Ronaldo.

Not that it required much of that wondrous talent. Indeed, it was a simple six-yard tap-in after Oliver Kahn had spilled a fiery shot from Rivaldo. But it must have seemed the sweetest goal in Ronaldo’s traumatic career.

Twelve minutes later he stroked home the second after Rivaldo had stepped over the ball and the world was truly at Ronaldo’s feet.

It was Brazil’s World Cup and Ronaldo’s hour of glory.