Brazil’s big question: Is Ronaldo fat?
KOENIGSTEIN, Germany – “So, what is it?” Brazil’s president wanted to know.
“Is he fat or not?”
Speaking from his office in Brasilia, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva put the question directly to his country’s soccer coach.
“He is very strong, president,” Carlos Alberto Parreira promised. “He is not that boy anymore. His body type has changed.”
Poor Ronaldo.
Some weighty questions are being asked of the superstar striker as the World Cup gets under way, and on Friday he said he was sick of it.
“I think I deserve a lot more respect because of my services in the national team,” he said. “I think it’s ridiculous. …”
With four days to go before the defending champion team’s opening match, Ronaldo said he is disappointed with how he’s being treated by the media, and surprised by all the talk about his weight and recent ailments, including blisters on his feet.
“People shouldn’t care about this,” he said. “What difference does it make?”
Ronaldo said he understands he attracts a lot of attention — it comes with the job when your team is picked to win a record sixth World Cup. Still, he said, he “shouldn’t have to pay a price” for being who he is.
Not everyone agrees.
Splashed across the front page of one of Brazil’s largest daily papers, O Globo, was a cartoon of a paunchy Ronaldo tipping a scale, a thermometer in his mouth, his feet soaking.
“If I get rid of all this … all is well,” the caption said.
Later Friday, Silva sent a fax to the player saying his comments were meant to end speculation, and that he didn’t mean to put Ronaldo’s condition in doubt, the Brazilian Soccer Confederation said.
