We are down to less than 10 days until the start of the World Cup in Brazil and continue our Top 50 World Cup moments – today number 8: Ronaldo Secures Brazil’s Fifth World Cup.
In the 2002 World Cup final the two heavyweights, Brazil and Germany, met each other for the first and only time at a World Cup.
The build-up to the game was dominated by the battle between Brazil forward, Ronaldo, and Germany goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, who had only conceded one goal throughout the tournament.
In the final, however, Kahn’s blunder handed Ronaldo his seventh goal and gave Brazil the lead.
A speculative shot from Rivaldo should have been comfortably saved by Kahn, but instead he spilled the ball at the feet of Ronaldo, who tucked it into the net in minute 67.
Twelve minutes later and the game was out of sight for Brazil, after Ronaldo beat Kahn for the second time with an excellent side-foot shoot.
It was the fifth time Brazil have won football’s ultimate prize, cementing their status as the most successful team in the history of the World Cup.
Ronaldo confirmed his reputation as the world’s best striker by winning the Golden Boot award for the tournament’s leading scorer with eight goals. With the two goals in the final, Ronaldo also became the all-time record goal-scorer with 15 World Cup goals.
In the end, Brazil captain Cafu, who became the first player to appear in three successive finals, accepted the trophy in an emotional prize-giving ceremony.
Do you remember the battle between Ronaldo and Kahn? Have your say in the comment section below.
