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 Ronaldo
 Ronaldo Brazil | Forward Achievements: World Cup winner 1994, 2002; Runner-up 1998 In April 2000, Ronaldo made a substitute appearance for Inter Milan against Lazio in the Italian Cup final. It was four months since he had suffered a severe knee injury and the Brazilian striker was eager to prove his fitness. Seven minutes later he was carried off in agony as his knee buckled under him. At 24, with many doubting whether he would ever play again, it seemed that Ronaldo's career, which had started amid a blaze of goals as a 16-year-old "phenomenon" in Brazil, had been cut tragically short. Ronaldo was already a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year and had collected a World Cup winner's medal as a non-playing teenage squad member in 1994. Yet, had he been forced to quit in 2000, he would inevitably have been remembered for the 1998 World Cup final. Having graced the tournament and scored four goals to steer Brazil to the final, Ronaldo suffered a mystery fit the night before the game. Although he played against France, he appeared in a permanent daze as the unsettled defending champions slumped to a 3-0 loss to the hosts. It took two years and two major operations before Ronaldo took to the football pitch again, just in time to claim a place in Brazil's squad for the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea. Many Brazilians wondered whether their star could ever be the same player, or whether he would simply break down again. Ronaldo wasted no time in proving them wrong, displaying the explosive skills, quick feet and fearless finishing that had characterized his early career and scoring six times as the Brazilians progressed to the final. In Yokohama, Ronaldo completed a dream tournament with both goals in Brazil's 2-0 win over Germany, earning him the top scorer's Golden Boot and player of the tournament honors. In 2006 Ronaldo is once again expected to lead Brazil's forward line, and with Ronaldinho and Kaka supplying the ammunition, both the Golden Boot and another World Cup winner's medal will be in his sights once again. 
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