Ronaldo had made his international comeback against Yugoslavia only two months earlier and some critics had accused coach Luiz Felipe Scolari of recklessly gambling on a player who, for the previous two-and-a-half years, appeared to have been fighting a losing battle against injury.
Yet both Brazil and Ronaldo defied the odds to reach the final and, on June 30 in Yokohama, the player known as the Phenomenon capped one of the most resounding comebacks in soccer history by scoring the two goals which won his country an unprecedented fifth world title.
He also equalled Pele's total of 12 World Cup goals, lifted the World Cup for the second time at the age of 25 -- having been an unused substitute at the 1994 final -- and gave South America a 9-8 lead over Europe in world titles.
For four years, Ronaldo had been remembered for his mysterious performance at the 1998 World Cup final against France when he wandered around the pitch in an apparent daze.
He was then hit by a series of injuries, undergoing two knee operations and then being struck by a series of nagging muscle injuries.
At the 2002 World Cup, Ronaldo was back, once again resembling the player who terrorised defenders and had won the World Player of the Year award two years running.
His contribution to the game was recognised again when he won his third World Player award this week, just 24 hours after picking up the European equivalent.
One person who had always believed in his recovery was Ronaldo himself.
"Not many people are betting on me but now I'm going to surprise everybody and the people who believed in me are going to win lots of money," he said before the tournament started, urging gamblers to back him to finish as top scorer.
PROVED RIGHT
He was as good as his word. By the final Ronaldo had scored six goals -- although his second against Costa Rica was thanks to the generosity of FIFA as television replays showed that a defender put the ball into his own net and Ronaldo did not touch it.
But in the final, Ronaldo was still lacking his old pace and this seemed to tell in the first half as he was a couple of metres slower than his markers.
He had three chances -- all of which he might have put away on a better day -- but he had two saved by Oliver Kahn and clipped the third wide of the post.
Not to be denied, the Phenomenon came into his own in the second half.
The first goal came as Ronaldo responded to Scolari's appeal for him to mark opposing defenders when they had possession and generally play more for the team.
Scolari had earlier criticised Ronaldo's efforts on this front, saying: "He still has a bit of difficulty in responding to the request to mark the opposition when they are trying to play the ball out of defence."
But the man known as "Big Phil" could have had no complaints as Ronaldo won the ball and fed Rivaldo, who fired in a low, 25-metre shot.
Kahn could only parry Rivaldo's effort, the ball fell invitingly into the path of Ronaldo who gleefully snapped up the chance and went off to celebrate with his characteristic raised finger and goofy grin.
The story was complete when Rivaldo wrongfooted the German defence with a clever dummy and Ronaldo placed the ball beyond Kahn from just inside the edge of the penalty area.
WEIGHT LIFTED
Afterwards, Ronaldo admitted that the performance had taken a weight off his mind after his experience in France.
"I don't feel in debt with anyone but a weight has been lifted from my conscience," he said. "I'm free.
"All this celebrating could have happened four years ago but destiny was that we would have to wait until 2002."
Ronaldo's injury misery began in late 1999 when he underwent an operation on his right knee.
His comeback match for Inter Milan six months later lasted only six minutes, until he tore ligaments in the same knee.
This time, a painstaking recovery took more than two years but his comeback was then cut short by a series of frustrating muscular injuries.
At the start of this year, he was taken back to Brazil from Italy where an eight-strong team of professionals -- including two doctors, a nutritionist and a physiotherapist -- spent one month effectively rebuilding the stricken player.
This time it worked. The muscular injuries went away and Ronaldo was ready for his third World Cup.
"I have a lot of things to thank God for," he said.
"My big victory, as I have said before, was to play football again, to run again and to score goals again. This conquest today, our fifth world title, has crowned my struggle, my recovery."