He was World Footballer of the Year and a World Champion. In the final in 2002, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima scored a brace past Oliver Kahn against Germany to win the game for his side: record World Champions Brazil. Twelve years after the 2-0 win in Yokohama, the Selecao registered a historic defeat. At the World Cup in their own country, Brazil lost 7-1 in the semi-final in Belo Horizonte on 8th July to Germany, who went on to win the World Cup. 38-year-old Ronaldo, who was an ambassador at the World Cup, spoke in an interview about his admiration for the DFB-Team and World Footballer of the Year in 2014.
Question: Do you think that a Germany player has the chance to win World Footballer of the Year in 2014 after they won the World Cup?
Ronaldo: I don’t think there’ll be any surprises. Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals every year and is playing fantastically well, not only in the league, but he played well at the World Cup too. Lionel Messi is also superb. He’s not playing quite as well as we’ve come to expect of him, but nevertheless, he’s still good.
Question: Which Germany players impressed you the most at the World Cup?
Ronaldo: Schweinsteiger and Kroos. The Germans controlled every game, they were very organised and were compact. I love to watch Germany play.
Question: How hard was it for Brazilians to overcome the nightmare 7-1 loss in the semi-final to the DFB-Team?
Ronaldo: It was hard but that’s football. I prefer the memories of 2002 against Germany. These are the memories that I recommend to my compatriots.
Question: Can Brazilian football learn anything from German football?
He was World Footballer of the Year and a World Champion. In the final in 2002, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima scored a brace past Oliver Kahn against Germany to win the game for his side: record World Champions Brazil. Twelve years after the 2-0 win in Yokohama, the Selecao registered a historic defeat. At the World Cup in their own country, Brazil lost 7-1 in the semi-final in Belo Horizonte on 8th July to Germany, who went on to win the World Cup. 38-year-old Ronaldo, who was an ambassador at the World Cup, spoke in an interview about his admiration for the DFB-Team and World Footballer of the Year in 2014.
Question: Do you think that a Germany player has the chance to win World Footballer of the Year in 2014 after they won the World Cup?
Ronaldo: I don’t think there’ll be any surprises. Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals every year and is playing fantastically well, not only in the league, but he played well at the World Cup too. Lionel Messi is also superb. He’s not playing quite as well as we’ve come to expect of him, but nevertheless, he’s still good.
Question: Which Germany players impressed you the most at the World Cup?
Ronaldo: Schweinsteiger and Kroos. The Germans controlled every game, they were very organised and were compact. I love to watch Germany play.
Question: How hard was it for Brazilians to overcome the nightmare 7-1 loss in the semi-final to the DFB-Team?
Ronaldo: It was hard but that’s football. I prefer the memories of 2002 against Germany. These are the memories that I recommend to my compatriots.
Question: Can Brazilian football learn anything from German football?
Ronaldo: We have the mentality to always want to play nice football. Germany showed the world how you have to play- well, compact and organised.
Question: Neymar is already a global superstar and plays alongside Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona. What do you think is in store for the 22-year-old?
Ronaldo: Neymar is still so young. I’m certain that he’ll get even better. I think that in two years, he’ll be number one. And I’d like to beat him at poker. Maybe it’ll happen sometime.
Question: How would you assess the current situation of Brazilian football?
Ronaldo: It’s a tough situation. There aren’t many young players a tour clubs. Normally, we have a lot of young players that are born in Brazil. We have to restructure our football.
