Ronaldo set for league return

Ronaldo is set to return to Serie A action with Inter Milan tomorrow, almost two years after his last Italian league game.

Ronaldo is set to return to Serie A action with Inter Milan tomorrow, almost two years after his last Italian league game.

Inter said on their official website that there was a "high probability" that the Brazilian striker would start the match.

"I am in good shape and I feel ready. I am not thinking about anything else other than this match and this return to the championship," the two-time World Player of the Year told the daily Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ronaldo made two substitute appearances in UEFA Cup games in September, but has not appeared in the league since suffering a knee injury against Lecce in November 1999.

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By coincidence Lecce are Inter's opponents on Sunday, but the Brazilian is not worried about any bad omens.

"I like to think positively and the fact that I will make my re-entry against Lecce does not weigh on my mind at all. I don't deal with the negative events of the past and I have not been tormented by such thoughts in recent days," Ronaldo said.

The former Barcelona striker returned to action in the Italian Cup final in April 2000, but ruptured a knee ligament just six minutes into a second-half substitute appearance.

That injury required another operation which kept him out of action until this summer when he took part in two pre-season friendlies, and he made his return to official action against Romanian side Brasov in the UEFA Cup first round on September 21.

But the Brazilian suffered a thigh injury in the second leg of the tie a week later, delaying his Serie A return.

Inter coach Hector Cuper has expressed his satisfaction with Ronaldo's performances in training recently, saying he believes the striker can put his two miserable years behind him.