Football World Cups have thrown innumerable fairytale stories and the finals of tournament live long in memory – a crowning moment, a fitting finale.
In July 1998, though, a cruel twist of fate derailed Brazil’s fifth World Cup quest. Going into the final, much of the talk surrounded the best player in the world – the 21-year-old genius of Luis Ronaldo.
Despite his tender age, Brazil’s No 9 had already done enough in the years leading up to the World Cup to warrant a place in the pantheon of greats. Defenders were seen backpedalling, quaking in their boots almost, when Il Phenomeno had the ball at his feet. It didn’t matter if he was even 60 yards from goal.
Players who played against and alongside Ronaldo had little doubt that on his day, he could take on an entire team all by himself. “I’ve never seen a player able to show such precise control at such a high speed,” said former France defender Marcel Desailly. “Watching him was like watching a character in a video game.”
On June 12, Desailly was preparing to take on Ronaldo in Paris. In the Brazilian team hotel, just hours before kick-off, however, chaos had descended. Their prodigal son and the most recognisable footballer on the planet at the time suffered a seizure attack, frothing from his mouth and pounding his chest. Luckily, teammate Roberto Carlos had spotted it and yelled for help in a state of panic. Ronaldo was put to sleep thanks to some timely help from the team doctors and the players.
At tea-time, Ronaldo would disappear from the team hotel but quite astonishingly, made his way to Stade de France with just over an hour left for the start. Ronaldo, at first, was replaced by Edmundo in the starting lineup before coach Mario Zagallo decided to field his best player.
But Ronaldo had little impact on proceedings and was also injured after a clash with France goalkeeper Fabian Barthez. Brazil crashed to their worst World Cup defeat in 68 years, a 3-0 thrashing. The then Inter Milan striker failed to lift his side, who were outclassed by a well-drilled French side, who got their hands on the World Cup crown for the first time. That night belonged to Zinedine Zidane, with whom Ronaldo would join hands with four years later at Real Madrid and terrorise opponents.
The mystery illness
Two decades have passed since that fateful day and there have been more than a dozen theories that have been floated around by football aficionados from various circles.
France and the hotel have been accused of trying to poison Ronaldo’s food to throw him off guard. There is also the tale of Brazil’s sponsor Nike demanding Ronaldo’s inclusion in the starting XI. In 1996, Nike had signed the largest sponsorship deal with a national team – reportedly worth $160 million.
Alex Bellos, the author of Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life, wrote that there were murmurs of Brazil receiving bribes worth $23 million to throw the game away, but were promised to host the World Cup on home soil in 2006. Ronaldo, this theory goes, refused to partake in it, but was forced to play in the final after Nike threatened to pull out his sponsorship money.
Neither before the final nor after has the three-time Ballon d’Or winner had a seizure attack. There were fingers pointed at the team doctors, who had allegedly given him an anaesthetic called xylocaine 10 minutes before the attack. Ronaldo’s reaction was pinned down to the drug inadvertently entering his vein.
The aftermath
There were no rotten tomatoes or brickbats when the beaten Brazilian side returned home. Infact, they were treated to a hero’s welcome. The events that unfolded before the final, however, refused to die down. Roberto Carlos and Edmundo were interrogated by congressmen to narrate the harrowing moments they had witnessed at hotel.
Lidio Toledo, the team doctor, said he was under pressure to ready’s his side’s talisman. He said: “Imagine if I stopped him playing and Brazil lost. At that moment I’d have to go and live on the North Pole.”
With four goals, Ronaldo was still awarded the golden ball for the tournament’s best player.
This tale was not going to end this way. This was after all, one of the finest strikers to ever grace the game. Three years later, a nasty injury while playing for Inter could have derailed Ronaldo’s chances of playing in the 2002 World Cup.
But the redemption was complete in the first World Cup that was held on Asian soil. Ronaldo formed a deadly triumvirate alongside Rivaldo and a relatively unknown Ronaldinho and Brazil blitzed their way to the World Cup title in Yokohama. There was a fitting finale after all – Ronaldo scored both goals in the final as the Seleccao got the better of Germany.