RONALDO, RIVALDO & RONALDINHO
Brazil scored 18 goals at the 2002 World Cup – and 15 of them came via just three players. Whether four yards out or 40, left foot or right, the trio delivered arguably the most devastating, dominant display from a frontline in tournament history.
The Three Rs became quintessential Brazilian profiles. Ronaldinho, the youngest of the three, brought the gurning joy, his mane untamed as he danced on the ball. Ronaldo assumed the hitman role after his tumultuous France 98 and injury- ravaged build- up restricted his explosive pace to shorter bursts around the area. That left Rivaldo as the elder statesman of the three: a wily wizard capable of combining creativity with clinical finishing, and even deftness with darkness – as proved with his comical play- acting against Turkey.
Width came from the wing- backs – hello, this is Brazil – while the midfield screened counter- attacks. The Selecao’s frontline was capable of slicing through even the deepest defences with power, speed or grace. They could give you life; they could take it away.
The memories are still fresh nearly two decades on. Rivaldo’s composure to swivel and drill the ball past Belgium, or his cool side- footed equaliser beyond David Seaman on the stroke of half- time in the quarter- final against England. Both goals were assisted by Ronaldinho: the latter the result of a surging moment of buck- toothed brilliance from the centre circle, only eclipsed by the subsequent free- kick drifted over Seaman. Then there was Ronaldo getting to everything before anyone else, netting his seventh and eighth goals in the Yokohama final to draw level with Pele’s tally at World Cups.
It wasn’t merely the goals but the entire package that made the trio’s chemistry special. They entertained as much as any Selecao strikeforce before, and certainly more than any since. Apart, they were three of the most talented players of theirs – or any other – generation. Together, they conjured magic that may never be reproduced by the Brazilian national team… or any team, for that matter.