Perhaps the two greatest pure center forwards in the history of Brazilian soccer, Romário and Ronaldo, both raised in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, played together for an all-too-brief less-than-two-year period in 1997-8. Romário had led Brazil to victory and was voted MVP in the 1994 World Cup, and Ronaldo had just been voted world player of the year in 1997.
Together, they were unstoppable.
In 19 games together with the national team, they scored an astounding 34 goals between them, Romario with 19 and Ronaldo with 15. With them on the pitch, Brazil won both the 1997 Copa America and the Conferations Cup.
And looked unbeatable in the run up to the 1998 World Cup.
Then, Romário injured himself in early 1998 (he was plagued by lower back and hamstring problems in the latter part of his career), quarreled with Assistant Coach (and fellow prima donna) Zico, and in great controversy was cut from the team just before the start of the Cup.
The rest is history. Without Romário, Ronaldo did not have a consistent strike partner. Brazil squeaked into the final, losing to Norway in the group stage and barely defeating Scotland, Denmark and Holland. The morning of the final, Ronaldo had a mysterious "seizure", and was initially scratched from the lineup before being reinstated right before the starting whistle. He played like he was in a stupour, and Brazil lost badly.
Man, what I wouldn't have given to see Romário in that final...
