30 JUNE 2002 GERMANY 0-2 BRAZIL Ronaldo 67, 79 The Germans started brightly, Edmilson and Lucio forced to clear centres intended for Klose. Brazil then took over and created four excellent chances. Ronaldo dummied a pass to Ronaldinho, Ronaldinho feigned to shoot then in Ronaldo with a perfectly weighted ball and from 12 yards he poked the wide of the left post. Ronaldinho clipped a beautiful pass up to Ronaldo but a poor first touch allowed Kahn to recover. Jeremies skyed a shot from the edge of the box. Kleberson latched onto an excellent 50yd through pass but shot wide then struck the top of the crossbar with a stunning first time effort following good work by Ronaldinho. Roberto Carlos tried one of his infamous hit and hope shots from distance, the ball rebounded to Ronaldo off Metzelder, he turned and shot but Kahn made a superb save with his feet. Edmilson made an excellent clearance from a Jeremies diving header and Marcos tipped Neuville's 35yd free kick onto a post, arguably the best save of the World. Rivaldo finally managed to lose his markers and was free at the back but Cafu hit a terrible cross into the box. Ramelow cut out an attack and passed the ball to Hamann. Hamann took an eternity to clear allowing Ronaldo to steal the ball from him, Ronaldo passed to Rivaldo, Rivaldo hit a weak, low shot at but Kahn spilled the ball and Ronaldo tapped in. Kleberson carried the ball 50yds and rolled it across the edge of the box, Rivaldo let the ball run through legs, Ronaldo took one touch to control the ball and another to shot into the corner. Marcos made a phenomenal save to deny Bierhoff a goal and ensure a comfortable last few minutes. Probably the best World Cup final since 1986. Germany dominated possession in the first half without creating too many chances. Ronaldo looked very nervous in the first half and but as soon as he scored his confidence soared. Kahn did a Seaman, his mistake giving Brazil the crucial first goal though Hamann is equally to blame. Marcos on the other hand was superb in Brazil's goal, making two saves on the rare occasions Germany threatened. World Cup #5 for Brazil. No one is going to catch them anytime soon. Ronaldo finished as top scorer with 8 goals and became the first player in 32 years to score more than 7 goals in a World Cup finals tournament. "We've got to be happy with what we've achieved here in this World Cup. First of all we survived our group matches. We played well at times and we owe a lot to Oliver Kahn who did some fantastic things. We didn't always play as well as we did at times today, but we have to be happy, particularly when you take into how many injured players we've had during the course of this tournament." - Rudi Voeller "I feel happiness and joy, probably the same joy that the people of Brazil are probably feeling right now. The joy of knowing that we did our job, a job that took a lot of hard work and we feel the merit of winning all seven of our matches. It is a historical moment as Brazil is back as the World Champion and is simply the result of very hard work." - Luiz Felipe Scolari "I want to thank every member of our squad. I fought for two years to overcome my injury and I am very glad to have scored both the goals and help bring the fifth World Cup back to Brazil. I want to thank my family for all their support." - Ronaldo Assist : Kleberson |