Ronaldo coloca Brasil no topo do mundo pela quinta vez
30/06/2002. O povo Brasileiro pode soltar o grito de alegria. O Brasil é pentacampeão do mundo após bater a Alemanha por 2 a 0, neste domingo na cidade japonesa de Yokohama. O herói da conquista não poderia ter sido outro: Ronaldo. Tido como acabado para o futebol por muitos até dias antes da Copa, o “Fenômeno” fez os dois gols da partida. O goleiro Oliver Kahn e a Alemanha vão ter que esperar mais quatro anos, quando a Copa for disputada em seu território, para tentar uma revanche.
___________
Ronaldo places Brazil on top of the world for the fifth time.
Brazilian people can let go and scream in joy. Brazil is penta-champion of the world after beating Germany 2 to 0 this Sunday in the Japanese city of Yokohama. The hero of the conquest could not be other than: Ronaldo. Many, days before the cup, had him finished in soccer, the Phenomenon made the two goals of the game. The keeper, Oliver Kahn and Germany will have to wait 4 years when the cup will be disputed in their territory, so they can have a re-match
_____________________________
Congratulations Brazil! Five Times World Champion!
A close game in the first half where both teams were over cautious and nervous, Ronaldo missing the net a couple of times and a neutralized German offensive that could have scored had they been more willing and assertive.
Germany imposed their pace during most of the first half.
Kleverson nearly scored for Brazil in the last minute of the first half but the crossbar saved the German team, then in injury time it was Kahn that saved from Ronaldo to go 0 x 0 in the first half.
In the second half, Brazil picked up the pace a bit, but Germany managed to impose, yet again their cautious "I came here to NOT lose the game attitude" (as opposed to come to WIN the game) of the first half.
Jeremies almost scored within the first 2 minutes of the second half but Edmilson saved Brazil... minutes later on a free kick, Marcos deflected to the post a superb shot from Neuville on a free kick, which I was puzzled to see that Brazil only put a 2 man barrier.
Finally, on a play started by Ronaldo, which at one point it looked he was losing the ball to Hamann, he went back, fought for it and gained it, he passed it to Rivaldo, who without hesitation, fired at Kahn... In the entire tournament, Oliver Kahn was (and is) the best goalkeeper, looking unbeatable, in fact allowing only one goal in their tie with Ireland. In this shoot he made a small mistake... he was not able to control the ball after stopping the shot from Rivaldo and in the fashion of great strikers, Ronaldo was nearby and took advantage of the one error by a great keeper and made the final pass to the net, opening the way for Brazil's fifth title.
With 22 minutes left in the game, Brazil realized that a one goal difference was far too risky playing against the Germans, who at this point also realized that playing "Not to lose" was not the way to win and finally opened up. The game all of a sudden picked up the pace.
So now it was Brazil's pace and in a counterattack, an impressive run by Kleberson on the right side, passed to Rivaldo, who in typical Brazilian genius, faked taking the pass and took a German defender with his fake... opening the way for Ronaldo, who needed no error from Kahn this time around and fired just inside the area to put the ball away from Kahn's reach and securing Brazil's victory...
With 7 minutes left Bierhoff, who had come in as a substitute, send a powerful shot that Marcos saved and kept the Brazilian net clean.
So a combination of a small (and cruel), mistake by Kahn, which sparked the Brazilian flair and a German game strategy that quite frankly I did not understand the reasoning behind, gave the edge to Brazil, who in the dying minutes was still looking for a third goal as in revenge for the loss to France 4 years ago.
Soon the end of the game and the tournament came and the joy of the Brazilian team exploded in celebration for conquering for the fifth time, the World Cup.
Another world championship of football came to a close, with the image of these joyful Brazilian players, who although they did not reached the level of the golden era of Brazil; they still are World Champions for the fifth time. Congratulations Brazil!!
A devastated German team received their silver medals, in whose faces one could see that they did not want to be second... Perhaps for many other teams having reached the final would have been enough... But not for this team, yes a worthy opponent without a doubt, but understandably sad for their defeat. Perhaps this will be a motivation for them to go home and start preparations during the next 4 years when they will host the WC in 2006 and try once again, to be champions of the world and succeed.
For me, the best player for Brazil, and without doubt, is Ronaldihno. His presence and skill generates the kind of opportunities that Rivaldo and Ronaldo can finish. For Germany, Oliver Kahn is the best... Unfortunately, Germany played without a key player, Michael Ballack. After seeing the game, there is no doubt in my mind that with Ballack in the pitch, we would have seen a much different game, far closer and far more aggressive on the German side. But that we will never know.
And so, until we meet again in Berlin in 2006. |
