Engaged Ronaldo ready for Germany game

Brazil striker Ronaldo arrived in Berlin for Wednesday's friendly against Germany a day after his teammates but he had a good excuse for being late.

The team landed in Germany on Monday but Ronaldo was given permission to come a day later because he had an engagement dinner with his girlfriend.

"It was 10 times tougher than scoring two goals in the World Cup final," Ronaldo told reporters on Tuesday when asked about how it went.

The Real Madrid forward took his girlfriend, model Daniella Cicarelli, to Brazil training a few days ago and introduced her to coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who allowed him to come to Berlin 24 hours later than the rest of the team. Ronaldo, who scored both goals in Brazil's 2-0 victory over Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, split up from his first wife Milene Domingues last year, four years after getting married. Shortly before the engagement dinner, Ronaldo had opened the scoring in a 3-1 win over Bolivia in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday and had celebrated by showing off a tattooed wrist with the initials D, for Daniella, and R, for himself. Parreira made it immediately clear to Ronaldo that party time was over.

JUAN FIT

"This game for Germany is the start of their (2006) World Cup campaign," the coach told reporters.

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"They want to use it to boost their confidence ahead of the finals."

For the game at Berlin's newly renovated Olympic stadium, Parreira will be able to rely not only on Ronaldo but also on central defender Juan, who plays his club football in Germany for Bayer Leverkusen.

Juan was pulled out of the squad for the qualifier against Bolivia after being injured in a clash of heads in a Bundesliga match but is now fully fit.

"The Germans will want to win because they are making a new start, have a new coach (in Juergen Klinsmann) and are playing Brazil," Juan said. "They have a chance to take revenge for the World Cup final and they want to take it."

Five European-based Brazilian internationals, AC Milan trio Kaka, Dida and Cafu and Bayern Munich pair Ze Roberto and Lucio, were dropped for both the Bolivia game and Wednesday's friendly.

Parreira suggested the five should have exerted some pressure on their clubs when they refused to release them for a friendly in Haiti last month.

Officials from the Brazilian football federation were to meet European club executives in Germany to raise the problem.