- Title: BRAZIL: FOOTBALLER RONALDO RETURNS TO ITALY AFTER RECOVERING FROM INJURY
- Date: 11th March 2002
- Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO AND TERESOPOLIS, BRAZIL (MARCH 9-10, 2002) (REUTERS) TERESEPOLIS, BRAZIL (MARCH 9, 2002) 1. VARIOUS OF RONALDO JOGGING 2. VARIOUS OF RONALDO JUMPING OVER CONES 3. VARIOUS OF RONALDO RUNNING AROUND CONES 4. RONALDO SHOOTS 5. VARIOUS OF RONALDO DRIBBLING AND SHOOTING AT GOAL 6. WIDE AS RONALDO HITS THE CROSSBAR 7. RONALDO SHOOTING IN SUCCESSION 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BRAZILIAN NATIONAL TEAM DOCTOR JOSE LUIS RUNCO SAYS "We are in front of someone who is ready to play football, so we should not be creating ghosts such as 'Ronaldo broke his knee, twisted his ankle.' He is playing football, so he has the same possibility as any other player to suffer an injury." 9. RONALDO LEAVING TRAINING PITCH AS PERSON FOLLOWS HIM ASKING FOR AN AUTOGRAPH 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RONALDO, TALKING ABOUT HIS PROSPECTS OF PLAYING AGAIN FOR BRAZIL SAYS "Players who would be in good form would keep their place, the ones who are not doing well would be dropped and that's the way it should be and that's the way it will be in the national team. If I am selected it would not be because of my name, it would be because of what I know and I would need to prove myself on the pitch." RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (MARCH 11, 2002) 11. VARIOUS OF RONALDO PLAYING FOOTVOLLEY AT COPACABANA BEACH Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th March 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RIO DE JANEIRO AND TERESOPOLIS, BRAZIL
- Country: Brazil
- Reuters ID: LVA6SSLB98HXFAYR0XRP70L5FJ9L
- Story Text: Inter Milan's injury-plagued striker Ronaldo has
returned to Italy from Rio De Janeiro on Monday (March 11)
after staying one month in Brazil recovering from muscular
problems that have delayed his return to action.
Inter Milan's injury-plagued Brazil striker Ronaldo is
raring to go after finishing a one-month rehabilitation
programme that specialists claim has turned him into a new
player.
An eight-strong team of specialists from Brazil and
Inter Milan -- including doctors, a physiotherapist, dentist
and nutritionist -- have spent the last month effectively
rebuilding the stricken star.
The last practice on Saturday (March 9) was at the
training headquarters of the Brazilian national team in
Teresopolis, a mountain resort near Rio de Janeiro.
Ronaldo sprinted between cones, shooted and took on
defenders in one-on-one situations in front of about 100
people, including staff and reporters.
Jose Luis Runco, one of the doctors on the team, said the
25-year-old had undergone "muscular reconditioning" and
"physical reconditioning" to get him back to full fitness.
Runco said one of their most important achievements was to
reduce Ronaldo's body fat from 13.5 to 8.5 percent, which he
described as "an excellent level for a professional athlete".
"We are in front of someone who is ready to play
football, so we should not be creating ghosts such as 'Ronaldo
broke his knee, twisted his ankle.' He is playing football, so
he has the same chance as any other player to suffer an
injury," said Runco, who is also the Brazilian national team
doctor.
After his last training session, the former World Player
of the Year said he was fully recovered from the injuries that
threatened to wreck a once-spectacular career and made his
presence at the World Cup doubtful.
Ronaldo's career, which reached its peak with an
astonishing 1996/97 season at Barcelona in Spain, has been
thrown into doubt by his inability to shrug off injuries.
The latest, a pulled muscle at the back of his left thigh,
has sidelined him since December 23.
Now, after two knee operations in two years and three
muscular injuries in quick succession after his comeback, he
is expected to be named among the foreign based players who
would be named on Tuesday (March 11) for Brazil's friendly
against Yugoslavia on March 27.
"Players who would be in good form would keep their
place, the ones who are not doing well would be dropped and
that's the way it should be and that's the way it will be in
the national team,"
Ronaldo said he would get his place back by merit and
not because of fame:
"If I am selected it would not be because of my name,
it would be because of what I know and I would need to prove
myself on the pitch,"
Ronaldo last played for his country in a friendly against
the Netherlands in October 1999. He was involved in only 10
matches during the last three years.
In his absence, Brazil have gone into a spectacular
decline, only narrowly managing to qualify for this year's
World Cup.
The Inter forward bid farewell to Rio with a game of
footvolley in the sand of at of the famous Copacabana beach
before fliying to Milan with his mother Sonia.
Footvolley is the city's favourite past time beach sport
where players are allowed to use all parts of their bodies,
apart from arms and hands.
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