Index: Efficacy

Efficacy Stories

Page Contents

Ronaldo's global message of hope

By Paul Hayward Yokohama July 2 2002

In every country every day, people recover from ordeals to do extraordinary things that inspire those around them. This is what Ronaldo, with his goals, with his tears, reminded the world in Yokohama on Sunday.

Convulsions, a ruptured kneecap, a snapped rotula tendon: Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima has had them all. In the final against France four years ago he passed miserably into a world of pain. The nervous seizure that rendered him a virtual zombie in Brazil's defeat in the Stade de France was the start of a long walk towards professional oblivion, as his body seemed to disintegrate.

But this is sport's function in life: to show that the light of human talent never really goes out. Every 90 minutes is a fresh shot at salvation.

So this World Cup has provided one of football's greatest tales. It started unfolding in the 50th minute of Brazil's opening game against Turkey...

[more]