The attention in this game tends to fall on Ronaldinho’s goal, however Brazil’s first is the more interesting and better shows off his talent.
The clock is ticking down to the half-time whistle as David Beckham famously pulls out of a tackle on the wing.
Roque Junior picks up the loose ball and misplaces a pass into midfield. Paul Scholes is on hand but Kleberson jumps into a tackle just as he picks it up, nipping it into the path of Ronaldinho to run onto.
Nicky Butt does little to attempt to come across and cover, barely breaking out of a jog for the move, which forces Ashley Cole to confront Ronaldinho by himself. With Cole stepping up, Rivaldo makes a run from the centre out to the right, looking to split the centre-backs with Ronaldo on the left to open up space through the middle for Ronaldinho.
Ronaldinho also makes space for himself. Cole was keeping pace with him, but the Brazilian does a stepover, faking to cut right, which Cole reacts to, causing him to lose his balance as he tries to recover, allowing Ronaldinho to continue through the middle.
Evading Cole forces England’s centre-backs to deal with Ronaldinho. Sol Campbell shifts his body shape inside while Rio Ferdinand moves across to tackle him.
This leaves Ronaldo free on the left and Rivaldo in space on the right. Ronaldinho slips the ball into Rivaldo, who finishes first time with his left foot.
One response
Brilliant run by Ronaldinho, his step over completely threw Ashley Cole off balance. I bought a World Cup 2002 England review dvd and they had edited out the Beckham leap. Bit silly.