Before the tournament, Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari declared: “The beautiful game is dead”.
Brazilians all over the world were furious, and expectations for the Samba boys were lower than ever as they arrived in the Far East.
Yet, as one favourite after another crashed out of a tournament full of unpredictable twists and turns, Brazil eventually provided an ending of which their soccer-mad population would surely approve.
The South Americans’ skill and style was evident in abundance and they deservedly lifted a record fifth World Cup.
All the talk was of their triple-pronged “three Rs” strike attack – but this was the tournament where Ronaldo shone.
He scored eight times in the tournament, and only Pele can match his career tally of 12 World Cup goals. And his brace in the final helped erase the memories of his disastrous appearance in the 1998 final.
That said, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho were also brilliant at times, and Roberto Carlos, Cafu, and keeper Marcos enhanced their reputation.
Their defence was called into question. But aside from the Costa Ricans’ consolation goals in the group stages, only Hasan Sas and Michael Owen managed to score against them.
On the evidence of this display, it is fair to say that reports of the death of the beautiful game appear to be premature.
