Ronaldo continues to be blasted for his indifferent performance during Brazil's first match against Croatia on Tuesday. Interestingly, the heaviest (no pun intended) criticism of the Phenomenal One
has come from his own countrymen, who jeered him off the field after being substituted for Robinho on 69 minutes. Calls for replacing the out of form and out of weight striker have come from all over
the place, and the Brazilian press have been particularly merciless. "You felt sorry for Ronaldo," wrote Juca Kfouri, one of Brazil's best-known columnists. "(Coach Carlos Alberto) Parreira should
take him out of the team, to preserve his reputation if nothing else... It was a torture to see him like a wobbling heavyweight, staggering around the pitch as if what was going on around had nothing
to do with him." Another columnist also criticized the ineffectual Adriano: Fernando Calazans, columnist in the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo, took a similar line, also criticizing Adriano. "The two
looked as if they were having a wander around the garden," he said. "How on earth do you challenge for a World Cup like that?" Critics across Brazil seemed to agree that with Ronaldo on the field, the
world champions were forced to go about their task with 10 men. Ouch.
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