From: Hildegaard Beauregard [ljlife@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2002 3:33 AM
To: Lee Jerome Life
Subject: Return, I will, to old Brazil

Reporting from World Cup Watch Central, Sunday, June
30, 2002

Then there was the final match. After all the
surprises of World Cup 2002, and after a "meaningless"
third-place match that was the best show of the sport
and sportsmanship, the final was anticlimactic.
Certainly Brazil, and particularly Ronaldo, had their
redemption for France '98 and a precarious qualifying
campaign that had them on the verge of their first
failure to make the World Cup, but for everyone else,
it was not a great turn of events that Brazil played
in a third consecutive World Cup and won its fifth.
Nor that Germany, the other side, was in their seventh
final match with a chance to tie Brazil for the most
World Cup titles at four, even though Germany had not
been a favorite especially after they were shelled 5-1
by England in a qualifying match. Legacy bore down on
this first tournament in Asia, so that even as
co-hosts Korea and Japan, and Senegal, Turkey and the
United States reached new heights in world soccer with
their advance to the second round, the new faces were
progressively eliminated as Brazil and Germany rolled
on. The one novelty left was that Brazil and Germany
had never met in a World Cup match.

The one surprise left was that Germany got the better
of Brazil for at least one half of the match. As
tournament favorites and other heavyweights fell away
in the course of the Cup, the mantle of destiny was
looking more and more yellow, green and blue --
Brazil's colors. Brazil, with Ronaldo and Rivaldo,
were back in form and were scoring goals better than
anyone in the tournament, while France, who stunned
Brazil in the '98 final, Argentina, Italy, Spain and
Portugal were among those to fall. Brazil themselves
sent home a resurgent England team, which has some of
the planet's best talent, striking magnificently on
the run and from long range and making England look
limp in the second half. Germany, meanwhile, after an
ominous start with an 8-0 rout of Saudi Arabia,
plodded through the rest of their opponents one goal
at a time. When their astute defense and position game
yielded all the dazzle and most of the attack to a
still presumably non-world class U.S. team in the
quarterfinals, even Germans, such as hero of former
glory days, Franz Beckenbauer, were disappointed and
pessimistic.

So Germany at least carried on the topsy-turvy aspect
of the tournament in the context of this match, when
they took their game to Brazil, turning Brazil's play
into something rather German looking, and taking
charge of the attack in a rather Brazil-like way.
Germany controlled possession and mostly at Brazil's
end, prowling around the Brazilian penalty box looking
for a chance to strike. Brazil got more shots on goal
off counterattacks, but Germany's probing for set-up
had them more organized and was more of a threat to
Brazil, both directly to Brazil's weaker defense and
indirectly by taking the game away from the Brazilian
attack. Germany was without the best play-maker of
their last few matches, Michael Ballack, suspended
with two yellow cards, but the others were no worse
off in taking it to the Brazilians:  Bernd Schneider,
Torsten Frings, Marco Bode and Oliver Neuville, in
particular. And then there was goalkeeper Oliver Kahn,
a rival of Brazil's Ronaldo and Rivaldo for the Golden
Ball, or most valuable player, award, to meet the
"phenomenon," as Ronaldo is nicknamed, with a
phenomenal save just before the end of the half in
injury time.

As it had come to seem inevitable, however, Brazil got
a goal, and, if circuitously, by the one most likely,
or at least most expected. Ronaldo took the ball from
Germany's Dietmar Hamann well into German territory,
and tipped the ball to Rivaldo while crossing him to
set up a break. Rivaldo, however, was hogging the
chance, as was his tendency, overlooking a breaking
Ronaldo to try to rifle one in from outside the box.
But Rivaldo's judgment was not wrong about his power.
The shot was right at German keeper Oliver Kahn, who
curled his arms as he fell to trap it, but it was too
strong for him and bounded out. Kahn went for it again
and then lunged to his left as he saw Ronaldo
streaking in. He was the only German reacting,
however, and it was too sure for Ronaldo. Ronaldo
popped it perfectly past Kahn to the inside of the
post. In the 67th minute, Brazil had a forcing lead.

Twelve minutes later, history was racked up to Brazil
in the person of Ronaldo. Rivaldo assisted unselfishly
this time, helping with confusion among the German
defenders when he let Kleberson's cross fall to
Ronaldo, who feinted one way, then turned to slash it
past Kahn through the side of the goal. The goal was
the knell for Germany, the herald for Brazil's record
5th World Cup title. It was the 8th goal of the
tournament for Ronaldo, putting him three clear of
teammate Rivaldo and Germany's Miroslav Klose, who had
been replaced in the 74th minute. It all but assured
Ronaldo of winning his second consecutive Golden Ball,
as the tournament MVP, as well as the Golden Shoe as
top scorer. No one has ever won the Golden Ball twice
in a row. It was also the 12th goal for Ronaldo in all
World Cup play, tying him with Brazil's greatest
legend, Pele. (Germany's Gerd Mueller holds the record
with 14, and France's Just Fontaine is second with
13.)

Brazil 2, Germany 0. The first World Cup in Asia had
come down to another match of European and South
American teams, and another World Cup for Brazil. 

Brazil's celebration, touching though it was for them,
looked vainglorious compared to Turkey's magnanimous
gesture to Korea the day before. The Brazilians showed
their colors:  they paraded their national flag,
wrapping themselves with it or spreading it on the
ground to roll around on it, their jerseys, having
people write on them, and their religion, with Jesus
slogans on T-shirts and lots of kneeling and praying.
The downcast Germans, such as Oliver Kahn sitting
against a goal post, seemed to have been forgotten,
even for a token show of sporting handshakes. A few of
the Brazilians got around to hugs or exchanging
jerseys, but that was overtaken by the presentation of
the World Cup trophy -- yes, the World "Cup" no longer
refers to an actual cup, but has a trophy. The two
teams lined up to be kissed by Pele and given flowers
by Beckenbauer, and then Brazilian captain Cafu
climbed up on the rather flimsy pedastal to hoist the
bulbous hunk of gold amid shooting smoke and strips of
silver tinsel. After that, the Brazil players clamored
over each other to kiss the trophy and take turns
hoisting it as they paraded around the stadium.

Recalling thrills of our love . . .

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