Inter don't want Brazil putting Ronaldo at risk

"The Phenomenon" played for the last half hour of the game. He looked slowish, slightly overweight and distinctly ring-rusty, as might have been expected for a player returning after a 17-month injury-enforced absence.

He touched the ball perhaps 14 or 15 times, managing to lose it two times out of three. He failed to have any real impact on a game that his team were already winning easily, 3-0. If the player's name had not been Ronaldo, you would have paid him little or no attention.

However, the Brazilian's return to competitive soccer last Thursday in the final half-hour of Inter Milan's easy 3-0 UEFA Cup tie against the humble Romanian side, FC Brasov, prompted not only an outpouring of media eulogies but also a call-up for Brazil's vital World Cup qualifier against Chile on October 6th.

Ronaldo practically ripped apart his right knee when attempting his trademark "shimmy", or body swerve, on April 12th last year in an Italian Cup tie against Lazio. After months of painstaking rehabilitation, during which he spent up to six hours a day just trying to bend his right knee, Ronaldo has taken the most significant step yet on the road to recovery.

As one of his former coaches, Marcello Lippi, pointed out last week, Ronaldo is a lucky man. He has huge wealth, a lovely wife, a baby boy and warm and close family support. However, added Lippi, in his professional life, he has been unlucky.

Almost since the France '98 World Cup finals, of course, Ronaldo has been on the injury list, plagued by a series of knee problems which all paled in comparison with the ruptured rotular tendon injury that finally sidelined him 17 months ago.

Could it be that, finally, he is on the way back? Ronaldo himself, who turned 25 last Saturday, clearly believes so: "This is only the beginning, the first step. I've got to keep my feet on the ground and proceed gradually. But you can only get fit by playing, there's no getting away from that.

"The knee is fine, I felt nothing, absolutely nothing, during the game. I repeat, all I need now is to play regularly and I hope to win back my place in the side as soon as possible. Even if I make mistakes, the important thing is to be playing."

Since the injury, Inter have been cautious about their player, taking things one day at a time. Not for nothing, new coach Hector Cuper put Ronaldo on the bench for Sunday's 1-0 away win against Torino but did not use him. UEFA Cup games against minnows like Brasov are one thing, a Serie A away tie quite another.

In that context, it was no surprise to hear Cuper voice his concern about Ronaldo's international call-up: "Obviously, I'm unhappy with this call-up because he is following a very specific programme of work in order to get back to the best condition. I'm worried he will have to interrupt this very important work for a certain period."

If Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari had been in Trieste for Ronaldo's comeback last week, he would not entertain the possibility of playing him.

Scolari, however, was not in Trieste. His Brazil are in dire straits, joint fourth with Uruguay in the South American qualifying group and looking at the prospect of a play-off to get to the World Cup finals next summer. Is he desperate enough to field a semi-rehabilitated Ronaldo?

Inter hope not, praying that Ronaldo's call-up is essentially symbolic and intended to boost morale. A do-or-die World Cup qualifier against Chile is not an occasion for faint hearts or half-fit players. Even when the player's name is Ronaldo.