RONALDO is the Lazarus of the football world once again, after two games where he got awful reviews from the Brazilian and foreign press.
Eamonn Dunphy called Ronaldo and Adriano playboys on Irish TV but the boy from Rio scored twice against Japan.
This was the first game where Brazil showed why they are so popular with fans in every corner of the planet. The self-esteem of the Brazilan people was rescued by this 4-1 win.
The fans here have been demanding the inclusion of full-backs Cicinho and Gilberto ever since the Confederation Cup last summer, where even the coach of Argentina, Jose Pekerman, showed some admiration for Brazil.
Today in OLE, the Argentinian daily today sports paper, Pekerman said, “My favorite players in the Brazilian school of football are the full backs. It is amazing how good they are.”
Juninho from Lyon is popular here because his style is much more Brazilian than Emerson and Ze Roberto, the other contenders for a place in our midfield.
Gilberto Silva of Arsenal received a lot of good press for the way he did his job, but as Dutchman Louis Van Gaal has said, another tournament starts now.
BRAZIL will play Ghana, a very special country for Carlos Alberto Parreira.
It was in Ghana that Parreira got his first job as a coach, thanks to the help of Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, who recommended him.
On Tuesday our whole country will stop to watch the Ghana game.
By Alex Abreu Gontijo