After a lackluster World Cup start, Ronaldo scored two goals Thursday night to lead Brazil to a 4-1 victory over Japan to clinch first place in Group F.<p>"I have complete knowledge of my possibilities, of my condition," Ronaldo said. "I knew I arrived at a level below my teammates, and that I would have to work really hard to reach them." </p><p>Ronaldo admittedly arrived for the World Cup overweight and was heavily criticized after the sluggish performances in the early games. </p><p>The goals moved Ronaldo into a tie with Gerd Mueller of West Germany for the most goals in World Cup history with 14. Ronaldo said he never had a doubt he would regain his scoring touch. </p><p>On Thursday, Ronaldo finally appeared close to top form. He tied the game at 1 with a header a minute into first-half injury time, moving past Pele as Brazil's all-time leading World Cup scorer. He was set up by Real Madrid teammate Cicinho, who sent him the ball with a header across the area. </p><p>Ronaldo scored his second goal in the 81st, with a right-footer from 20 yards after a set up by defender Juan. </p><p>"Ronaldo is back," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "We believe he's special. We must have confidence in our football and today we played more like Brazilians, we kept the ball for longer periods." </p><p>With its second-round berth already secured, Brazil fielded five reserve players and got goals from two of them, Juninho and Gilberto. But it was Ronaldo who was the star in Brazil's record 10th straight World Cup win. </p><p>"I'm very happy with my performance, with the two goals and with Brazil's victory," he said. "Now it's time to rest and think about the round of 16." </p><p>Brazil will play Ghana in the second round on Tuesday back in Dortmund. </p><p>"We had a great game and now we're all motivated for the round of 16," Brazil midfielder Kaka said. "We played well." </p><p>Japan is headed back home after finishing last in the group with one point, failing to repeat its second-round appearance from when it co-hosted the 2002 tournament. The Japanese, coached by former Brazilian all-star Zico, needed to defeat the five-time champions to have any chance to advance. </p><p>"I'd love to have a player like Ronaldo on my team," Zico said. "He's the type of player who can smell a goal and he's so dangerous when he gets in front of the goal." </p><p>Zico changed both his starting strikers to try to boost the attack, and it seemed to work when the Japanese surprisingly took the lead despite being outplayed by Brazil. </p><p><font size="3">After Ronaldo tied it at the end of the half, Brazil took the game over in the second half. Juninho, replacing regular starter Ze Roberto, scored in the 53rd minute with a shot from about 25 yards that appeared to change directions at the last minute and fool Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. </font></p><p>Gilberto, replacing Roberto Carlos, got Brazil's third goal in the 59th after a neat through pass from Ronaldinho. Gilberto entered the area unmarked and sent a low left-footer past Kawaguchi. </p><p>The goal by Japan ended Brazil's string of four straight World Cup shutouts since beating England 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2002 tournament. Brazil could have equaled Italy's record of five straight shutouts in the 1990 World Cup. </p><p> arreira's changes to the lineup ¡ª leaving out veteran wingers Cafu and Roberto Carlos, midfielders Emerson and Ze Roberto and striker Adriano ¡ª worked from the beginning. </p><p>Cicinho, Gilberto, Gilberto Silva, Juninho and Robinho all played well and contributed to Brazil's victory. </p><p>"We're all here because we want to play, but we have to respect the opinion of Parreira and only he knows what he has in his head," Robinho said. "But we have to work hard because tomorrow, at any moment, he might ask us to play (again)." </p><p>Robinho, who had substituted for Ronaldo in the first two matches, added speed to Brazil's attack from the start, creating several scoring opportunities and setting up his teammates in several occasions. </p><p>Despite the goal allowed, Brazil controlled possession and dominated most of the match, only failing to get more goals because of saves by Kawaguchi. </p><p>Brazil had struggled in its first victories over Croatia and Australia. The defending champions, who entered the tournament heavily favored to win a record sixth title, performed well below expectations, being heavily challenged and failing to impress. </p> |
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