India, June 1 -- On July 12, 1998, Ronaldo stood in the tunnel of the Stade de France carrying the weight of Brazil, a World Cup final, and a mystery that still refuses to die cleanly.

Four years later in Yokohama, he stood over Germany with the same shirt, a different body, and two goals that transformed one of football's strangest collapses into one of its greatest redemption arcs.

Ronaldo arrived at the 1998 World Cup as the most frightening footballer on earth. He was 21, already a Ballon d'Or winner, already the face of a new commercial football age, and already the undisputed centre of Brazil's attack. He had scored four goals before the final, including one against the Netherlands in the semi-final, and Brazil entered Paris expec...