Ronaldo to play farewell Brazil match
Reuters - Wednesday 02 March 2011, 17:34
RIO DE JANEIRO - Ronaldo will play a
farewell match with Brazil in June to mark the end of a career
in which he won two World Cup winners medals, the Brazilian
Football Confederation said on Wednesday.
The three-times World Player of the Year, who retired two
weeks ago at 34, will take part in the friendly against Romania
at Sao Paulo's Pacaembu stadium on June 7, the CBF said.
Ronaldo has not played for Brazil since the quarter-final
defeat by France at the 2006 World Cup.
"Ronaldo deserves a farewell match, and the Brazilian fans
deserve to see him for the last time, wearing the Brazil shirt
in a stadium in this country," CBF president Ricardo Teixeira
said. "I'm sure it will be worthy of this great player."
Brazil will also play Netherlands in a friendly three days
before the Romania game.
Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in World Cup
tournaments with a total of 15 - four in 1998, eight in 2002
and three in 2006 - and was voted FIFA's World Player of the
year in 1996, 1997 and 2002.
He won the World Cup in 1994 and 2002, although he was an unused squad member in the 1994 campaign when he was just 17-years-old. He also helped fire Brazil to the final in 1998.
The former Cruzeiro, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan,
Real Madrid, AC Milan and Corinthians player also won two Copa
America titles in 1997 and 1999, despite suffering three serious
knee injuries in his career.