The 30 best players in World Cup history

5. Ronaldo

Too many years have passed since his career has faded into obscurity and sometimes scandal. He’s also seen a more famous namesake wow today’s generation.

Even so, it’s impossible to forget just how good the original Ronaldo was. The Brazilian version was the perfect fusion of flair and strength who pushed the Selecao to a pair of finals and one trophy.

A thunder-and-lightning powerhouse who glided across the pitch with an unerring coolness, Ronaldo played in four finals. He made his mark at two, France ’98 and 2002 in South Korea and Japan.

He scored four times in 1998 and had audiences enthralled with his movement, brute force and graceful skill. Sadly, the mystery attached to his preparation for the 3-0 final defeat against France cast a dark shadow over an otherwise brilliant tournament for Brazil’s greatest-ever No. 9.

Fortunately, Ronaldo was back four years later. The fact he was back on a pitch at all was nothing short of a miracle after a nightmare knee injury had left his career on life support.

Ronaldo overcame the issue, and while he’d lost some of his pace and smooth skills, he compensated with anticipation and intelligence.

Ronaldo’s instinct for goal was never keener than in ’02. He found the net eight times, scoring in all but one game en route to the trophy.

The run included a winner against Turkey in the last four, before Ronaldo bagged a brace to crush Germany in the final.

It says everything about his awesome talent many believe more should have come from a man still good enough to be the best player at two World Cups.