I think you LIED to yourself. I only agree that Rivaldo was best at Copa99 and that was it. At WC98 he was close to FAIL in term of being a "playmaker" and Ronaldo had to withdraw deeper to look for balls. at WC2002, - the first goal came form Ronaldo stealing the ball and fed to him for 1 and 2. Rivaldo chose to shoot instead of pass to Ronaldo in better position, but well he went on and score the rebound! Now IF Roandlo did not steal that ball, would Rivaldo make another chance? go back to his games at WC98 semi, and final as example - nearly dissapeared! Now IF, Ronaldo was a too slow to run in for the rebound, that goal was STOPPED by Kahn = NOTHING happened! - Second goal: thank that he did NOT touch the ball (crrosing in by Kleberson). Go back and watch the game, Rivaldo was running a bit faster and the cross was a bit BEHIND his pace, so all he can do is to IGNORE it! Now if he catch the ball, he would needs time to control it, so defensders will come back on time to cover the area! WATCH ... and THINK ... do not go for your bias
I think you need to re-watch the games. 1st goal your words are if Ronaldo doesn't steal the ball the goal doesn't happen just like if Rivaldo doesn't shoot the ball that forces the rebound Ronaldo doesn't score either. Indirect assist. 2nd goal How is the cross behind him when he clearly opens his legs? Rivaldo dummies the ball which draws the defender leaving Ronaldo wide open that is an indirect assist. Watch the defender the was marking Ronaldo leave him when he thinks Rivaldo will shoot. If Rivaldo is not in that equation, the ball most likely get intercepted. WC98 Semi-final Isn't that Rivaldo with the pin point pass to Ronaldo but according to your logic if Rivaldo doesn't make that pass then Ronaldo don't score and we get eliminated in the semi's.
Rivaldo assist in 98 Rivaldo assist. Rivaldo MOTM performance in a tough game versus denmark in WC 98. WC 98 Team of the tournament Goalkeepers Fabien Barthez José Luis Chilavert Defenders Roberto Carlos Marcel Desailly Lilian Thuram Frank de Boer Carlos Gamarra Midfielders Dunga Rivaldo Michael Laudrup Zinedine Zidane Edgar Davids Forwards Ronaldo Davor Šuker Brian Laudrup Dennis Bergkamp Yep, he definitely failed in 98.
Well first of all your post is very reasonable, and mine was to reply to some saying Rivaldo was (supposed) to be teh best player for Brazil 02! Of course Rivaldo was a great player, it just he was LESS efficient and LESS DECISIVE than Ronaldo in big games. That's my point. If you see otherwise, the n something wa svery wrong with Ronaldo won Goldenball98, and Silverball02? Well in fact if the votes took place after that final game, Ronaldow ould surely won his 2nd WC goldenball! while Rivaldo was not in any finalist at those event 98 and 02!!! Look I still rate Rivaldo > Ronaldinho for he PLAYED GREAT for Brazil team than them (but sorry, can not compare to Ronaldo)
I never said Rivaldo was better than Ronaldo. My point was Rivaldo get a lot of unfair criticism for his performances for Brazil.
It is not unfair, until WC02 he was not a great player in NT. His slowness, his mistake in 1996, poor performances among 98-01 contributed for criticism of brazilian fans.
that so very true. Look , I said upto WC02 semi, Rivaldo was best player for Brazil (if not the whole tournament) but in the last "most important games" Ronaldo stepped up and stole the light! (I think we all agree here) there were 3 events that made Rivaldo looked bad: 1- Despite of his great performance, Barca went SOUTH with VanGal as coach 2- Rivaldo was UNFAIRLY blamed during Brazil bad runs at WC02 qual (from 2000-01) despite of he was the WC qual TOPSCORER (along with Romario) 3- in combination with his "bad form" at Milan right after WC02, that made his status "worse" than what he actually delivered. I like Rivaldo = a rare skilled lone attacker ever seen
This is true. Rivaldo was heavily criticized and 2002 really elevated his status in the Selecao. Although he was clutch many times before, he was seen as very inconsistent ... and as you say slow, holding on to the ball for too long at times and even awkward. But that was his style. One thing I was disappointed with was his performances in both WC finals. In 98 everyone was bad so I guess that was an excuse. In 2002 everybody remembers the shot on the first goal and the dummy, but if you re-watch the game, he played really badly. Ronaldinho with his 2 great setups of Ronaldo in the first half had a better garme IMO. I do wish he had excelled more in at least one of those finals.
I am at a loss at how to rate these 3. Overall Zico is my favorite player. I'd say he was the most versatile out of the 3. Could score goals and had great vision. His passing was sublime short and long. It's a shame he couldn't win a WC. If he did in 82 he'd be top. Ronaldinho as a player was probably the most skillful player I have every seen in my life. At least in his performances for Barcelona. Great start at the Selecao but major under achiever after 2002 mainly due to his nonchalant style. In the end, Rivaldo, with his unorthodox style, is the one that had the most impact out of the 3 in terms of titles. He could look really weird at times but then again was capable of magical moments. I remember the 4 x 2 vs Argentina in Porto Alegre in 99. He was absolutely sensational in that game. If you have a chance to re-watch that game, I recommend it.
To Rivaldo's Credit ..Rivaldo was only 80% fit during the 2002 WC and was carrying an injury.Even with his injury he was the top performer for Brazil along with Ronaldo.He scored or assisted when it mattered the most...Remember his goal against Belgium? If he did not score there ,Brazil could have gone out of the tournament .Brazil was finding it very difficult to break down Belgium.
We tend to remember Ronaldo's injury but forget Rivaldo was also coming back from injury. Good point. Yeah I know he had other great games. Like Denmark in 98. Just wish he hadn't done so poorly in both finals.
I recall Ronaldo wasn't getting good press to begin with in his time at Inter. It was so bad that stories from the press were confusing stories between edmundo and Ronaldo. That, his injury and Uefa boy Zidane as a favorite to repeat glory was inevitable. Ronaldo 02 is one of the greatest comeback stories, similar with Pele 70, that pretty much sealed his legendary status. He silenced the mouths of many critics. Rivaldo was just as great but he didn't have the pressure that R9 had on his shoulders.
I don't think so. Against Turkey at both games were the most difficult ones for Brazil. Belgium made some great pressure for us in the first 30mins, with a disallowed goal, yes, but in second half Brazil came back to the same dominant side with many chances wasted (the result could be 3 1 or 4-1 even if we grant that goal of WIlmost. Brazil had the whole 90mins struggling with the Turkey in other hand