00:05Sometimes we need reminding, so look at this, he's in his prime, such pace, such mobility,
00:16such charisma, the power of Ronaldo was something to behold.
00:22That was just one goal at Barcelona, in one glorious season in the mid-1990s, ahead of
00:30the first of his three World Player of the Year awards, and his dramatic, theatric, incredible
00:36performances at three World Cups.
00:40On football's greatest stage, Ronaldo was at his finest, and that's after all the true
00:47measure of a career, producing for your nation when it counts most.
00:53Had the injuries which slowed him down in the second half of his career not been so debilitating,
00:59he might just have been the greatest of all time.
01:04Old Phenomeno, the Phenomenon.
01:11Ronaldo is Brazil's third top scorer, his 62 in 98 caps, behind only Pelé and Neymar.
01:21But at the World Cup, Ronaldo scored 15 in three tournaments, to Pelé's 12 in four and Neymar's
01:28eight in three.
01:32But those statistics tell barely a fraction of the story.
01:39Ronaldo was named in Brazil's squad at the age of 17, for the 1994 World Cup.
01:45But only for the experience.
01:47He didn't play a game, but by the time of the 1998 World Cup, he was at Inter Milan and
01:53the best player in the world.
01:58I am very much motivated, and I feel more motivated after what I have received.
02:04But I still have many titles left to conquer.
02:08And my dream is, of course, to play in the World Cup in France and win the title for Brazil.
02:15When the 22-year-old Ronaldo hit Paris in 1998, he held the game's two highest individual honors,
02:23the 1997 Ballon d'Or and FIFA Player of the Year.
02:28There was no question he was the biggest name on football's greatest stage.
02:34And when he scored four goals in Brazil's march to the final, including two in the round of 16 against
02:40Chile,
02:41and his team's lone goal in the semi-final against Netherlands,
02:46he'd already done enough to win the tournament's golden ball for best player.
02:52But what happened just after lunch on the day of the final against France would become one of World Cup
02:58history's most controversial and mysterious events.
03:04Ronaldo suffered a convulsive fit.
03:09Ronaldo was foaming at the mouth, struggling, breathing with a lot of difficulty and very pale, according to teammate Gonsalves.
03:19The young champion's roommate, Roberto Carlos, screamed for help.
03:23And the man credited with saving his life was defender Sampaio.
03:29Edmundo held down the star player, while Sampaio, seen here heading balls with the champion, prevented him from swallowing his
03:36tongue.
03:40The world was stunned when he was left off the team sheet, before being reinstated at the last minute.
03:46Many believe under sponsors' instructions,
03:51he shouldn't have played.
03:54A drawn, reserved, shadow of himself, the French ran all over him and his team, winning 3-0.
04:04I wanted to play at all costs and asked if he couldn't just do the tests before the game.
04:10So I went to the clinic just before the match.
04:12I don't think that the outcome of the match had anything to do with what happened.
04:16I went onto the pitch wanting to win and play well, but unfortunately it didn't happen.
04:26Fast forward to 2002, and at just 25, they said he was washed up.
04:32He'd barely played since rupturing a tendon in his knee with Inter in 1999.
04:38Setback after setback meant he missed Brazil's entire qualifying campaign.
04:45But he didn't miss the World Cup.
04:48He scored eight goals, including two in the final, matching Pelé's total 12, and taking him to his third World
04:56Player of the Year trophy and his second Ballon d'Or.
05:02By 2006, he really was past his best.
05:06On wobbly knees and unable to put enough miles in his legs to physically get down to appropriate fitness,
05:13he could produce only cameo football.
05:18Enough to score three more times to break German Gerd Müller's World Cup record, but not enough to take his
05:24Brazil team past the quarter-finals.
05:29Even then, he tried to keep playing the game he loved, even though he knew, like everyone else, the glory
05:35days were gone.
05:39And the Brazilian fans, and all lovers of football, still cheered wherever he went.
05:45The media fun poked at his fitness, or fatness could never ruin the affection the Brazil people had for their
05:51champion.
05:55Pelé will always be Brazil's greatest World Cup hero.
05:59But there's a fair question to be asked about Ronaldo and his knees.
06:04What if?
