KOENIGSTEIN, 17 June 2006 — Brazil’s physical trainer said Ronaldo is not far from his ideal form, despite the striker’s labored performance in the team’s opening World Cup game.
“He has improved a lot since arriving for the World Cup ... he’s not far from his ideal form,” Moraci Sant’Anna said yesterday, a day after the striker was cleared by doctors to play against Australia on Sunday.
Ronaldo had a dismal performance in Brazil’s 1-0 win over Croatia and the team admitted his physical condition was a factor.
Ronaldo arrived for Brazil’s training camp overweight, but doctors had said he would be ready for the start.
“If he continues to dedicate himself like he’s doing right now, he won’t have any problems for the coming matches,” Sant’Anna said.
Ronaldo, along with captain Cafu, underwent a 40-minute muscle training session Friday morning in Koenigstein, just outside Frankfurt.
The Brazilian Soccer Confederation said on its Web site that Ronaldo woke up upbeat and in good mood yesterday.
The striker had been taken to a Frankfurt hospital on Wednesday complaining of dizziness, but results showed nothing wrong and he was given the go-ahead to start against Australia in Munich.
The dizzy spell was just the latest problem for Ronaldo since Brazil arrived in Europe for the World Cup three weeks ago.
In addition to the weight issue, he was substituted at halftime in Brazil’s last warmup match because of blisters caused by new shoes. A couple of days later he missed practice because of a mild respiratory infection.
Then even the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, got involved in the weight controversy, and his problems only increased following the poor performance against Croatia and the dizziness. Brazil doctor Jose Luiz Runco said Thursday Ronaldo was taken to a medical clinic as a precaution after feeling unsteady for the second time in less than a week. The doctor said Ronaldo also complained of dizziness when he suffered the respiratory infection last week. “After he told us he felt dizzy, which had already happened, we decided to investigate,” Runco said.
The player underwent an endoscopy, blood tests and several scans, Runco said, adding all results came back negative.
Runco also said he could not rule out stress as the cause of Ronaldo’s latest problem.
“I felt sick on my day off and the doctor took me to the hospital for a series of examinations,” Ronaldo said Thursday. “There was nothing abnormal and it gave us the peace of mind we needed. I’m feeling much better today.”
