Ronaldo to prolong international career

Brazil striker Ronaldo is hoping to continue his international career after bowing out of this year's World Cup in a quarter-…

Brazil striker Ronaldo is hoping to continue his international career after bowing out of this year's World Cup in a quarter-final defeat to France.

Thierry Henry's second-half strike was enough to kill off Carlos Alberto Parreira's side as Brazil failed to produce the kind of football that has enabled them to capture the title five times.

"My intention is to always go back and play in the national team," said Ronaldo, who has now been a member of four Brazil World Cup squads.

Unimpressive in the group stage, the 29-year-old did score three times in Germany.

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He became the tournament's all-time leading scorer with his strike in the last-16 victory over Ghana. That gave him 15 in his career, surpassing Gerd Muller's World Cup finals record.

But Brazil were second best in the quarter-final against France, who advanced to a semi-final against Portugal.

"We didn't play badly, but obviously it hurts to go out of the World Cup," Ronaldo said. "I think we gave our maximum but it wasn't enough.

"We knew the big expectation in Brazil and we also wanted to go far but we are proud of the sacrifices that people have done in order to be here.

"We are sad, but we will be happy because our tournament overall hasn't been a bad one."

One player nowhere near his best in Germany was Ronaldinho, who celebrated a Champions League and Primera Liga double this year with Barcelona.

Ronaldinho said after the defeat to France: "This was the biggest disappointment in football. It's not the time to say what we lacked or didn't lack during this tournament.

"It's clear that we would all, from the goalkeeper to the last striker, would have wanted to do better to help Brazil go to the next round and defend the title."