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Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, popularly known as Ronaldo has often been considered to one of the greatest strikers in football, if not one of the greatest footballers of all time. The Brazilian is only one of the four players who have won the FIFA Player of the Year Award at least three times, the others being Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane.
He was a thorn in the side of defenders who played against him, as he harassed and tormented them on a regular basis. Ronaldo had the skills and the finishing ability to bring misery to the opposition. He scored a phenomenal 62 goals in 98 games for Brazil, winning two World Cups (1994 and 2002) along the way.
In the below video, French defenders, Frank LeBouef, Lilian Thuram, and Marcel Desailly talk about various tactics and strategies to stop Ronaldo before the 1998 World Cup Final.
Here is the video:
LeBouef, Thuram and Desailly are no weak defenders themselves, but the awe and respect with which the Frenchmen talk about Ronaldo's threat is something that gives a clear indication of how much the Brazilian was feared and revered.
However, in the ‘98 Final, Ronaldo failed to live up to the expectations as he was first not named in the starting lineup, and then named in the first XI only 45 minutes before kick-off. It was later revealed that he was suffering from a bout.
This might very well have hampered his performance in the final as Brazil lost 0-3 to the hosts France. Zidane scored two goals in the first half and Emmanuel Petit finished things for France in added time, despite Desailly being sent off in the 68th minute.
Ronaldo finished the ‘98 World Cup with four goals to his name. He would go on to play his last World Cup in 2006 and finish his WC career with an impressive 15 goals from 19 games.
This record was only broken in the 2014 World Cup by Miroslav Klose when he scored his 16th goal in Germany's 7-1 rout of Brazil in the semi-finals.
Records aside, Ronaldo will always be recognised, by everyone in the football fraternity, as one of the greatest ever football players to have walked the surface of the earth.
Before the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, French players Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, and Claude Makelele were asked about their opinions regarding the opponents Brazil. Henry and Zidane praised their opponents while Makelele ‘did not give a f*ck’ about the Brazilians.
Video of Henry, Zidane and Makelele expressing their opinions:
