my god he is the greatest foward to play for real madrid ronaldo doesnt even come close to what this guy acomplish the only reason he is not mention in the top 5 of all time is because he never won a world cup but he played for mexico! i mexico had maradona or pele the still wouldnt had won a world cup when he had help you could see what he did just looking at his numbers when he played for madrid.
207499
is he related to dirty Sanchez?
244701
Zinedin Zidane has been top player for the FRENCH team and for Real, Madrid and will retire after the World Cup. He has never played on the German team
153711
It's hard to imagine.  Just now I'm trying to figure out if Ronaldinho will be the best player since Pele.  Yes, then also better than Maradonna, Cruyff, DiSteffano, etc.  Therefore--number two of all time.  We'll see what the World Cup will bring.  If he wins his second (and wins the Champions League) and is at his magical best, why wouldn't he be better than Maradonna et al.  So Robinho would have a long way to go...
572544
That was a fun game. Honestly, I expected Spain to win. Until now, France hadn't been exactly excelling. All their goals were kind of, unexpected. I liked that. Especially Zidane's. Considering this will most likely be his next to last pro-game. And probably his last goal too. I highly doubt France will do much against Brazil, and some are saying that it shall be the payback for the World Cup final in '98.
168187
I have the greatest respect for Zidane. I have closely monitored his game and in my opinion he is not only a good football player, but also a gentleman. I applaude his idea to retire when the ovation is loudest. Not every football player does that. If not for him France probably would not have qualified for the world cup. He is also the type of player that gives his best whether during club or national engagement. He takes his profession seriously and the world sure has a lot to learn from such an icon.
184662
The truth is that they have stopped themselves.Lets remember they had problems in the qualification round of the World Cup.I agree that they have the players.They also have youth in the defense with Sergio Ramos, he gives them the speed they need.Don't forget about Xavi,He gives them organization and orchestrates the attack.Their problem has been scoring when they need to in the last few World Cups.Although Raul is one of my favorite players in the world,I have to say that he has not showed his skills in the last World Cup.This year I feel that he will play with a chip on his shoulder since he had been injured for so long.Also lets not forget about Morientes,he has made numerous clutch goals in the UEFA(AC Monocco,Real Madrid,and Liverpool).They will get through the group stage with no problem.Except they might play France in the 1st leg,Zidane in his last soccer event will give it his all and Henry is unstoppable.Still Spain holds their on destiny and if they get confident this World Cup,they will have the ability to beat just about any team.
506418
Pele and Maradona arenot the only ones who led Brazil and Argentina to the trophy..On the other hand it was ZIZOU who led France to 1998 worldcup followed by 2000 Euro...and in 2006.. to the finals..they never dreamt of second place\n\n\n(No one can blame him for 2002 since he was injured the only three matches he played in round 32)
381902
i think the underlying Q is, does he deserve it?  the guy's got skills certainly but i could name several defenders who did a better job than him. he was hyped up by the media bec. italy needed a hero and sorry to say this, but there wasn't one who really stood out in the team, not even buffon bec. lehmann was light years better than him. jens had a LOT of defending to do and he shone at his job. maybe i'm blind, ignorant, biased, etc. but i saw all of italy's games xcept for that match with australia and i wasn't impressed with cannavaro at all. it was zambrotta and pirlo (to a lesser degree) who got my attention. cannavaro prob. got it bec. some ppl perversely felt something had to be rectified with the "premature" voting in the world cup which resulted in the "erroneous" giving of the golden ball to zidane and cannavaro having placed # 2 in that voting, was the logical beneficiary of the token act. that's ok if we confine it to performances in the wc but i get the sense that the ballon d'or had a wider criteria and as in the past, league performances had to be taken into account as well, not just the wc. which is where, in my limited understanding, this award goes terribly wrong bec. if that was  done then the prize should have gone to someone else. anyway, that's just my opi and i'm no certainly no expert.
625269
Yeah, he is. He was a champion player and brought Brazil to the world stage with grace and style. He achieved all this without the loads of training, financial backing and expertise that drives the game now. He was a pleasure to watch and a nice man to boot.
387118
Anyone would have loved to have had Zidane play for thier team.\n\nHe´s probably the best technical player ever, a shame the cheating Italians wound him up so they could steal, undeservedly the world cup.
176735
I think its too early to judge the players.  Can they ever be judged?  Well people are going to do it anyways despite the different types of conditions present in the different eras.  So, to get on with comparing, I would say that Ronaldinho is not yet better than Maradonna was.  I know that Maradonna fans would not even like the idea that he was being compared to anyone, let alone  a player like Ronaldinho, who is only half-way through his best years as a player.  Maradonna fans even have trouble with his being compared to Pele in the never-ending debate about the greatest player of all time.  What I will say though is that it is possible that Ronaldinho will surpass Maradonna.  Whether he does or doesn't remains to be seen.  If he does surpass him though, I don't think that you could ever say that Ronaldinho was even twice better than Maradonna.  Remember, Maradonna was a very great player.  Could Ronaldinho really ever be twice better?  No.  He will be a fraction better.  And believe me that will be enough to get Maradonna fans all around world up in arms...
309569
Yep! I agree, well for a lot of valid reasons, First being that Ronaldinho is playing for Honour and with so much skill Than Ronaldo....! He has helped Barcelona clinch the Spanish league title this year too......!He ( Ronaldinho) Plays with the ball! ever seen his juggling tricks....! WOW! \n\nI Ronaldo's Case a knee injury has kept him out for much of the season. Few people knew he was 25 when he top scored for Brazil in 2002! and had unfinished business with the world Cup. Now he's 29 and Jaded!Micheal Platini recently said " He's old and carries too many Kilos"\n\nSure Ronaldinho is the best to pave the way for Brazil, at this years world cup! but Alberto Pareira has got negatiive thoughts on Ronaldinho playing for Barcelona! "he is in exepcianal form right now, but will be able to keep it till July? I don't think, if he plays for all these tournaments with barcelona" \n\nAll in all Brazil are sure favorites to win the World Cup.\nBut when it comes to the Champions League, Arsenal will trash Barca! Hopefully! \nCHEERS!
601389
rivaldo isnt in the world cup because he plays the same position as ronaldinho, kaka and juninho all which are in great shape and are doin rly well on their teams..... if he was to play as a striker (like in 2002 world cup) he would be fightin for a position against adriano, ronaldo and robinho- all three arent that easy to beat
630650
Well all I have to say is I cannot understand why one of the most talented players in the game, Messi, whether he be a teenager/youngster or not took no part in such a crucial game. Unbelievable.
50557
He says he might leave because the fans have never really accepted him and that they get on his case whenever he doesn't score, even though he's led the team in scoring every year since he arrived. They also complain that he's overweight and out of shape. There's a decent chance he'll move somewhere else--partly depends on his performance during the World Cup.
446884
no 90% of brazilian players are talented look at cris the brazilian defender in lyon although he is not in the national team he is really talented and there is also naldo in bermen and amauri in palermo and the brazilians in sevilla even the brazilians in the turkish club fenerbache r talented so in every famous club in any country in any league u will find 2 or moretalented brazilians so i donot agree with him in this point the only thing i agree with him about lately is his comments on ronaldinho when he said that he is loyal to barca than the yellow shirt of brazil which is really true espicially after the amazing goal i saw yesterday which he scored against viareal i never saw ronaldinho scoring such an amazing goal with brazil i even didnot see him scoring a single goal with brazil since copa america!!!
647116
I have to admit that I had never seen Ronaldinho play before the World Cup 2006 started and yet I have been very impressed by what I saw in the early matches.  So much so that I am now convinced that Brazil will win the World Cup.  I have heard from others that he has been holding back and have wondered if it was in some small way to either let Ronaldo have his day in the sun by beating the record or if they are holding him back some to shine in the semi-finals/finals.  I hear what others are saying about soccer being a team sport but personally, I would like to see Ronaldinho bust loose.  You can look at it both ways - if he holds back then maybe the whole team will as well OR if he bust loose the team might just rise to the occasion.  I think the later would happen and it would be one heck of a sight to see.