From golden boot to painful boots and beyond

Last updated : 13 June 2006 By Editor

We could be about to get a double doze of that as Brazil open their campaign against Croatia tonight, and Germany take on Poland tomorrow.

‘By scoring today Ronaldo will take his World Cup finals tally beyond the Brazilian record of 12 he shares with Pelé; go past 14 and he supercedes Gerd Müller as the highest scorer in finals ever. Do not expect much running with ball at feet; he will surely be relocated to a smaller tranche of the pitch and reborn purely as a finisher,' wrote Owen Slot in The Times.

Ronaldo was on the scoresheet again as Brazil kept a clean sheet in their only pre-tournament friendly – a 4-0 win against New Zealand.

But he needed to go off with blisters on the soles of his feet caused by his new Nike boots, given to him at the beginning of the squad's two-week training camp in Switzerland.

He said: "During the game with New Zealand I tried to put padding on the heel area but it did not help." (Daily Telegraph)

The Real Madrid striker also went down with a fever in the build up to the World Cup but should be fine to line up in Berlin for his country's Group F opener.

Parreira added: "We tried to do something to help at half-time yet it continued to bother him. The doctor decided the best thing to do was to rest." (The Sun)

He also paid homage to the golden boot winner in Japan and South Korea four years ago: "Few have done more for Brazilian football - and that is saying a lot." (The Guardian)

However, there is a feeling that the defence might not be as good as it was then, with Cafu, now 35 and Roberto Carlos, 33.

Just like Germany showing a weakness in defence but going on to score four times past Costa Rica - sure it's not especially orthodox, but the World Cup is meant to be a spectacle. And nobody was particularly impressed by the England performance on Saturday, which took a very different approach.