Europe awaits Ronaldo's final show

TWO OF Europe's elite clubs, Barcelona and Paris St Germain, meet in a wide open Cup Winners' Cup Final in Rotterdam tomorrow night in a game which may well be enlivened by Brazilian talent, with "wonder boy" Ronaldo doing duty for Barcelona and PSG looking to the midfield craft of his compatriot Rai.

For many fans all over Europe, tomorrow night's game probably represents a first chance to get a good look at Ronaldo. For the 20 year Brazilian, the match represents a first chance to put a winner's medal on the sideboard and a chance to deliver on the expectation generated by the hype which has surrounded him since he made his $20 million move from PSV Eindhoven last summer.

Ronaldo is an obviously talented player, gifted with the sort of pace, power, physical strength and good balance that make him a problem for any defence. However, he could have his problems tomorrow night against a PSG side which not only features two Brazilians in Rai and Leonardo, but which is also coached by Brazilian Ricardo Gomes.

Ronaldo is only one element of a fascinating final which comes at a delicate moment for Barcelona. Neutrals who argue that Barcelona are the favourites had better be certain that the Catalan side has recuperated from the physical and mental stress of a roughhouse match last Saturday night when they beat the current Spanish league leaders, Real Madrid, 1-0 at the Nou Camp.

Playing in front of 120,000 spectators, Barcelona won a bad tempered game to close the gap between themselves and Real to five points with five games to play. Ronaldo scored the winning goal to take his seasonal tally to 32, knocking in a pass from Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo.

Seven players picked up yellow cards in a game distinguished by a couple of suicide tackles by Real's Brazilian defender, Roberto Carlos. One of those on the wrong end of Roberto Carlos's vigorous defending was Giovanni (yet another Brazilian) who may miss tomorrow night's game as a result.

The words and actions of the two club presidents, Lorenzo Sanz of Real Madrid and Josep Luis Nunez of Barcelona, indicate the depth of feeling that pervaded the Nou Camp. Sanz got involved in a heated argument with Barcelona officials in the VIP box and said afterwards that relations between the clubs were "broken" and that he would never come to the Nou Camp again. For his part, Nunez warmed up the match buildup by provocatively naming the Real players who, allegedly, had come to him looking for a new club for next season. After that, tomorrow night's Cup final in front of 50,000 fans in Rotterdam could well come as an anti climax. Barcelona's interest in their championship could prove a bigger handicap than the absence of the suspended Miguel Nadal or of Giovanni. With Ronaldo and Hristo Stoichkov in attack, Figo, Ivan De La Pena and Josep Guardiola in midfield, and Luis Enrique and Sergi in defence, their side is anything but weak. Barcelona, of course, have an impressive European tradition. They have competed in one of UEFA's three competitions for the last 38 seasons without interruption. In that time, they have won one European Cup, three UEFA Cups and three Cup Winners' Cups.

By comparison, PSG's record is poor. They have won only one European trophy, and this in last year's dull Cup Winners' Cup final against Austrian side Rapid Vienna. However, the Parisian side did meet and beat Barcelona in a Champions' League quarter final tie two seasons ago, drawing in Barcelona before winning the return leg in Paris.

PSG have had a difficult domestic season. They lost the league to newly crowned champions Monaco and endured a winter of discontent in their own camp. However, PSG midfielder Vincent Guerin, scorer of the winning goal against Barcelona two seasons ago, believes his side cannot be ruled out. "The big lesson this season was to have pulled out of the crisis together," he says.

Guerin will line out in a defensive midfield role behind Brazilian Rai, the midfielder playmaker called on to supply Leonardo and Patrice Loko in attack. Rai believes that PSG cannot afford to sit back and try to hang on as they did in their 2-0 semi final, second leg defeat by Liverpool. "The danger is to fear Barcelona too much. To win we must dare."

Rai, who was in Brazil's 1994 World Cup squad with Ronaldo (Rai played five times while Ronaldo did not play once), feels his younger colleague has improved greatly. "He doesn't doubt himself, he's very natural. If he carries on like this, he's certainly going to become one of the great phenomena in the history of football."

With compliments like that from your opponents, who needs an agent? All eyes on Ronaldo.