Ronaldo failed to impress in Brazil's World Cup opener, looking slow and even sluggish at times during a 1-0 win over Croatia on Tuesday.Ronaldo's weight has been the subject of controversy in the days leading up to the tournament, and his play against Croatia is sure to fuel more talk of his being out of shape.
Only three goals shy of becoming the World Cup's all-time leading scorer, Ronaldo barely touched the ball before being substituted for in the 69th minute. Despite the subpar performance, however, he had one legitimate scoring opportunity, sending a hard right-foot shot over the crossbar from 25 yards out in the 56th minute.
"Ronaldo hadn't been playing for two months ... it's natural, in a hot day like today, that he felt the lack of rhythm," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "Certainly, from now on he will get in form little by little."
This is Ronaldo's fourth World Cup and Monday was his 100th match with Brazil. If Brazil wins a second consecutive title, Ronaldo will equal Brazil great Pele as a three-time champion. The Real Madrid striker is tied with Pele with 12 World Cup goals, one fewer than Just Fontaine of France and two fewer than Gerd Muller of Germany.
But Ronaldo faced plenty of criticism in the days before the tournament, including a query from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a video conference with the team as to whether he was fat.
Ronaldo later compared the speculation about his weight to speculation about the president's consumption of alcohol. Silva then sent a fax to Ronaldo saying his comments about his weight were meant to end speculation, not bring more attention to the subject.
Even Brazil's sports minister, Orlando Silva Junior, visited the team's training camp with message to Ronaldo saying how much the president admired him.
"Ronaldo has said in interviews he's not 100 percent, he's not in ideal form," Brazil midfielder Kaka said. "Let's hope he becomes that Ronaldo we all want to see. A little more movement from his part would have been ideal."
When he was only 17 years old, Ronaldo was a member of Brazil's squad that won the 1994 World Cup in the United States. He was crucial in Brazil's 2002 campaign, leading all players in the tournament with eight goals.
Ronaldo has said he's not worried about breaking records and only wants to help Brazil win the World Cup.
From the beginning it looked like Ronaldo was going to have a bad game. He seemed always a step behind trying to get to passes, and had difficulties controlling the ball.
He was replaced by Robinho, who many say would be a better option on attack for Brazil as it tries to win an unprecedented sixth world title.
Lets hope Ronnie comes back into form in the next match against Australia and the only way for him to stop the critics talk about his is for him to do what he does best and that's SCORE.
"The God that people venerate does not carry a cross ,
Ask the footballing world my god carries a number "9" on his back".
-- Avinash Shetty, Ronaldo Fan for Life
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