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Wednesday 3rd April 2002
Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has admitted that he is desperate for Internazionale coach Hector Cuper to give Ronaldo regular first-team football as he steps up his World Cup preparations.
Scolari has gone out on a limb for Ronaldo, despite the fact the striker has hardly featured for Inter this season as he has battled to overcome his longstanding knee injury.
Big Phil opted to include the 25-year-old, who has played just six games for Inter this term and was not even on the bench for last weekend's 1-0 win over Fiorentina, in the squad to play Portugal on April 17 rather than in-form Mario Jardel.
Jardel has been playing week in week out for Sporting and hit a remarkable 33 goals in 25 games.
The Brazil coach is now sweating over Ronaldo's fitness. "He must play more games to improve his match fitness," he said. "His condition is my only doubt for the Portugal game. He needs to show Cuper he is capable of playing and he can only do so by working hard."
Scolari is banking on Cuper picking Ronaldo for Thursday's Uefa Cup semifinal first-leg against Feyenoord following reports that the star has impressed in training.
Scolari was nevertheless heartened by Ronaldo's performance and goal in the 1-0 win over Yugoslavia last week, as was the player. "One of my goals is to become the best striker in the world again and now I am convinced I can do it," he said.
Ronaldo played just 45 minutes in Fortaleza but admitted afterwards that he was relieved to have completed his international comeback without any further injury problems. "It was a happy day for me," he said.
"Everything worked out really well. My injuries are behind me now - I have no doubt about that. It's true I was very tired at half-time, but I need to work on my fitness. But I feel fine now and soon I'll be back to my best."
Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has admitted that he is desperate for Internazionale coach Hector Cuper to give Ronaldo regular first-team football as he steps up his World Cup preparations.
Scolari has gone out on a limb for Ronaldo, despite the fact the striker has hardly featured for Inter this season as he has battled to overcome his longstanding knee injury.
Big Phil opted to include the 25-year-old, who has played just six games for Inter this term and was not even on the bench for last weekend's 1-0 win over Fiorentina, in the squad to play Portugal on April 17 rather than in-form Mario Jardel.
Jardel has been playing week in week out for Sporting and hit a remarkable 33 goals in 25 games.
The Brazil coach is now sweating over Ronaldo's fitness. "He must play more games to improve his match fitness," he said. "His condition is my only doubt for the Portugal game. He needs to show Cuper he is capable of playing and he can only do so by working hard."
Scolari is banking on Cuper picking Ronaldo for Thursday's Uefa Cup semifinal first-leg against Feyenoord following reports that the star has impressed in training.
Scolari was nevertheless heartened by Ronaldo's performance and goal in the 1-0 win over Yugoslavia last week, as was the player. "One of my goals is to become the best striker in the world again and now I am convinced I can do it," he said.
Ronaldo played just 45 minutes in Fortaleza but admitted afterwards that he was relieved to have completed his international comeback without any further injury problems. "It was a happy day for me," he said.
"Everything worked out really well. My injuries are behind me now - I have no doubt about that. It's true I was very tired at half-time, but I need to work on my fitness. But I feel fine now and soon I'll be back to my best."
