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   June 21, 2002 | 2045 IST
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Player of the Day - Ronaldinho


In his native Brazil, Ronaldinho is spoken of in the same breath as the legendary Garrincha. Just 22 years old, he doesn't make the starting line-up, losing out to senior, more established strikers. But when he does play, he scores in almost every other match.

Ronaldinho Ronaldinho is blessed with pace, skill and guile; as the English defence will testify. In their pre-quarter final clash, he created one goal and scored another, as Brazil romped home, 2-1.

Late in the first half, he attracted a handful of English defenders as he raced down the middle. Ronaldinho ran circles around them, and crossed for Rivaldo to score.

In the 50th minute, he scored a peach-of-a-goal from a free-kick. Ronaldinho struck the ball from a distance of 42 yards with the outside of his foot to swerve it in off the horizontal. Everybody - most of all, goalkeeper Seaman - was expecting him to float the ball at the top of the box.

Ronaldinho has made a habit of scoring stunning goals; his goal against Venezuela in the 1999 Confederations Cup is acknowledged to be a classic. He went on to become the top scorer in the tournament.

He plies his magical skills with Paris Saint German in the French domestic league. After his brilliant showing at the Cup, where Ronaldinho is headed for is anybody's guess. One thing's for sure, goalkeepers in the European continent are going to fetch many balls from the back of the net, with finishing touches from this wizard.

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