Dortmund, Germany – Suddenly, Ronaldo doesn’t look so fat anymore.
Ronaldo, a three-time world player of the year, became the greatest scorer in World Cup history Tuesday and along the way brought defending champion Brazil one step closer to winning a sixth title.
His beautiful goal in the fifth minute propelled Brazil to a 3-0 victory over Ghana and into the quarterfinals. However, what continues to become an issue is that beyond the pretty footwork and rhythmic play and dashing 50-yard dribbles upfield, can Brazil’s aging defense get it done?
Against a Ghana squad in its first World Cup and missing its best player, Michael Essien, with a suspension, Brazil gave up 18 shots, including seven on goal. None met net, but the difference between Ghana and France, which meets Brazil on Saturday, is the French are finishers and the likes of Ghana and the U.S. are not.
Also, can Brazil keep winning with Ronaldinho, the two-time defending world player of the year, playing like he barely made all-Porto Alegre?
“We will continue to work and improve as a team,” midfielder Gilberto Silva said. “We have to do this.”
Those bigger issues come today when Brazil breaks down film that won’t be as pretty as the mass celebration of green and yellow in the stadium. After the game, Ronaldo had to take center stage. Maligned for his play at Real Madrid, ridiculed for his weight with Brazil, Ronaldo scored his third goal in two games.
Kaka, Brazil’s best player in Germany, threaded a pass on the ground between the Ghana defense. Ronaldo outsprinted – yes, outsprinted – the younger Ghana players to the ball. With only goalkeeper Richard Kingson to beat, Ronaldo faked right without touching the ball, then went left.
As Kingson slid out of sight, Ronaldo slapped it home. It was his 15th goal in three World Cups – he never left the bench in the U.S. in 1994 – surpassing the 14 that Germany’s Gerd Müller scored in the 1970 and 1974 tournaments.
“I want to continue to increase the record,” Ronaldo said, “but without forgetting that the main goal in the World Cup is winning the title.”
Brazil may not unless its defense plays better than it did Tuesday. While Brazil won its 11th straight World Cup game and has outscored opponents 10-1 in Germany, Ghana was playing better midway through the first half. Despite Essien gone, coach Ratomir Dujkovic kept pushing offensively. Asamoah Gyan, back from his suspension against the U.S., had numerous chances to score but never converted, scattering the ball all over the yard.
“We won the game, but the result doesn’t show that it was not an easy game at all,” Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. “The first half they did well, they should have scored. They had chances.”
Ronaldinho didn’t. Critics, and there are about one billion during the World Cup, are wondering when he will show up. A hero in Real Madrid’s Champions League title run, Ronaldinho has yet to play great for Brazil on an international stage. Ronaldo was the show in Asia in 2002. Germany was expected to become Ronald- inho’s world stage.
He spent Tuesday playing the role of the amusing bit player. He dazzled with a reverse pivot dribble – pretty difficult with feet – and his trademark no-look passes defy logic. But he set up nary a scoring chance nor took one himself. Ghana paid him very little extra attention.
But Brazil didn’t need him. Dida made a couple of fine saves late in the game to preserve the shutout, and midfielder Ze Roberto added a third goal in the 84th minute on another breakaway. But as Parreira said, the big boys are coming. His team may have to step it up a notch or lose its notch atop world soccer.
“History doesn’t talk about the beautiful game. It talks about champions,” Parreira said. “We like to play beautifully, and if we can, we will. … We have five world championships under our belly, and we want to make it six.”
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
