I understand. Just pointing out that you enhanced Rivaldo's performance with his assist and ignored Ronaldo's. Plus ... I really disagree with the 2/3 Holland goal comment. Overall I would say they both had equal contributions in 98 just like 02.
Only difference is that R9 has the FIFA Player of the Year Awards to back-up those claims . Laudrup is one of the best AM's of all-time but R9 is one of the greatest players of all-time.
Where is the relevance? You just bring up random facts about Ronaldo in every argument that have no connection at all with what was said. Tiring to say the least ...
I must admit that Ronaldo was very dangerous in that game vs Holland. That was easily one of his best games. However, I noticed in those highlights how often Ronaldo loses the ball when coming into more deeper positions. Sure we must give some credit to the Dutch defenders who played him very tight and rough, but it's not like defenders play any softer vs Messi either. In general Ronaldo struggled to escape such tight marking because he didn't have the acceleration and agility (at any point in his career) that Messi has today. But give Ronaldo a little bit of space and boom off he goes and you can wave him goodbye unless a second defender has good angle to cover the first one.
To those claiming Ronaldo's dominance, I will say it again: even at his best, at his utmost peak Ronaldo didn't lead Brazil to WC title in 1998 (but I will admit he came close, Zidane came up bigger in the final) and he didn't lead Inter to anything more than UEFA Cup trophy - in fact he lead Barca in his single season with them to more trophies. I know that even a player like him or Messi needs his teammates and some luck to achieve success, but it's not like Ronaldo played in poor teams or with poor teammates. He always had good supporting cast just like Messi does in Barca. But if Roni was truly dominant at any point in his career as you say, he would've led his team to more success like other great players have done in the past and how Messi led Barca to a La Liga title in one of the closest two team race ever basically by himself with his goals and performances. By some of you's logic Messi dominates La Liga - is that true really true though? Another question to think about - was Argentina in 2010 as organized as Brazil was in 1998? I don't think so.......
and you DO look good with WTF in your post? Zico: Complete Name: Arthur Antunes Coimbra Nationality: Brazilian Place of Birth: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Date of Birth: March 3, 1953 Height: 180 cm Weight: 69 kg National Team: Brazil Current Club: Retired Position: Midfielder If you need me to convert cm to feet, in case ? surely much taller than 5'7. and Rivelino is 1m73 which is more than 5'8 abit
Player X or coach Z can praise PLAYER Y as much as they want but what does PLAYER Y have to show for it? O FENOMENO has plenty of awards to show his worth
R9 was 21 and he led BRAZIL to the WC Final. France was the better "defensive team" overall. R9 wasn't FULLY FIT (obviously) and well BRAZIL had no chance without him! The man was the best player of the tournament, had he been 100% who knows. Argentina had better midfield and offense than Brazil 98, that's for sure. Ronaldo was playing alongside has beens and "rising stars".
That's not entirely true. Brazil were heavy favorites going into that cup. They had a ton of quality players who were already playing at a high level in different leagues. In terms of depth Argentina had a better attack but Argentina's midfield was disorganized and Brasil's defense was much better in 98' with 2 all timers as their fullbacks.
Taffarel (32) - Was already back in Brazil, he was done. Cafu (28) - In his prime. Aldair (32) - Declining... Junior Baiano (28) - LOOOL R. Carlos (25) - He was on the rise but he has always been a liability in defense. Cesar Sampaio (30) - Are you serious? He was playing in JAPAN! Dunga (34) DITTO Rivaldo (26) - He had just entered his peak years. He was not the same Rivaldo who we saw during his Barcelona days. Don't get me wrong, he was still pretty good! Leonardo (28) - Decent player at best. Bebeto (34) - Obviously he was done. He can thank RONALDO for making him look decent. Ronaldo (21) - The youngest player in the entire team and the best player of the tournament.
This is irrelevant. Brazil went into that cup as heavy favorites because of what they accomplished before. Argentina struggled to qualify, everyone thought Maradona was a joke of a coach and Messi was heavily criticized (a lot of times unworthy) as being crap for Argentina. The team were never favorites. The depth in attack was massive but you can't put 4 forwards out there at the same time. You're diminishing the massive role both fullbacks had for Brazil in their attack. Diego used 2 CB's and a left winger played out of position at RB as his fullbacks. Plus he only had 1 ball winner in midfield which obviously was a massive mistake.
Brazil had the best odds for WC98 according to bookies. Just like France in 02, Brazil 06 and Spain 2010. End of story.
First of all, it looks like you are trying to make up excuses for Ronaldo. Second, wasn't Germany better "defensive team" than Argentina in the last WC just as France were better than Brazil? Third, the Brazilian team from 1998 was probably the most defensive minded one they've ever had. Their basic strategy was simply to stay compact and give the ball to Rivaldo or Ronaldo at every chance they got and hope that Cafu on the right and Carlos on the left can manage to support them as much as possible. That was very simple and effective organization if you ask me. If you paid attention and actually read my post, you would've seen that I said that Argentina 2010 were less organized than Brazil 1998. Back then, Brazil had balance and strong leadership, which obviously contributed to the performances of a young talented Ronaldo. They also had an experienced coach like Zagallo, unlike Argentina who had the inexperienced Maradona. And lastly, the team you list was deemed good enough so they had no room in it for a player like Romario. Zagallo was hoping that having Ronaldo and Rivaldo was good enough.
After the WC, Brazil wasn't unhappy with getting 2nd place, in fact they had surprised a lot of their own fans. They went farther than expected and where happy with being runners up. One can compare them to Argentina in 2010, even though they had some of the best players in the world, there were many that didn't think they were going to go very far (considering their WCQ). And they didn't. They only got so far with their individual talent, and when faced against a real team they lost badly. Just because you have great players doesn't mean you're favorite to win the WC. http://www.v-brazil.com/culture/sports/world-cup/1998-France.html Secondly, yes Brazil had quality players, and yes Rivaldo was a great player, however Ronaldo was just out of this world. In this I was referring mostly to how the team went into the WC, not their performance in it. I compare it to Argentina, they have world class players like Tevez and Higuain, however Messi is just something else, he is in his own class compared to the rest, and so was Ronaldo. And during the WC, Higuain had a better tournament than Messi, even scoring a hattrick, yet no one considers him better than Messi, same goes for Rivaldo v Ronaldo.
You are right that 5'8 comes to about 1.73m. But Zico was 5'7 and 1/2 to 5'8. Around 1.72m. Check your source. http://epoca.globo.com/edic/212/especialcopa1a.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zico
Brazil were the favorites before the WC. During the WC we didn't really play that great. I for one thought we were going to lose against Holland. But going into the Final every Brazilian expected us to win. Whoever wrote this piece saying we were happy with 2nd place is crazy. That is absolutely not true. To this day most people believe had Ronaldo been healthy we would have won. That is not the sign of people thinking we weren't good enough to win. Brazil 98 were more favorites than 94 or 02.
Brazil were the favorites because of what they achieved in the 1997 Copa America and Confederations Cup. Remember the RO-RO combination? Well ROMARIO didn't make it to France 98, now did he? They were still one of the favorites because they had the best player on earth. Were Brazil favorites in 2002? NOPE! France, Argentina, and even Portugal were the "favorites". But a nearly 70% fit RONALDO was enough Diego was a crap coach, etc. Well, Zagallo chose to exclude ROMARIO in 98. Do you see me blaming Zagallo?
Germany was a better team overall. Messi GOT annihilated (like he usually does) by more physical opponents. France 1998 had legendary defenders in that line-up . Can the same be said about Germany 2010? I don't think so! You know you have problems when your full-backs are basically dictating your game . Simple and effective organizations, that's why this team got trashed by a very solid FRENCH TEAM. Argentina became quick favorites (they looked like the best team) after the group stage ended. They even trashed MEXICO afterwards. Everyone was praising Maradona for his offensive-minded tactics. Unfortunately, they faced a very competitive and solid team and they went BYE BYE BUTTERFLY!!!
I guess I have to take your word for it. I believed that piece because it talked about Brazilian football and it seemed credible. But I apologize for being misled, guess Brazil were favorites for 98 WC after all.
Aldair was 29 in WC98, and Baiano younger than 28 I would think. Also, a 25-year-old Rivaldo played great during that cup, and Leonardo is more than just a decent player. I think you overstate Ronaldo's performance, he was very good, possibly the best player of the tournament, but he wasn't exactly dominant: four goals, three of which where against Morocco and Chile, only one goal against a big team.
And he had 3-4 assists along the way. Anyone who saw that tournament realized that RONALDO wasn't only the ST of the team, this man was all over the place. He would switch with Bebeto (SS) back and forth. R9 created goals opportunity for others. Yeah he scored against Morocco, Chile, and Holland. Remind me again who Messi scored against?