Ever since the final whistle of the World Cup final I have had a big unanswered question. Why did the world's best player in the world's best team play so badly in the one game, the most important game, of his life so far, giving one of the world's worst performances in front of the world's biggest ever event audience of 2 billion. Months before the world cup the papers were full of Ronaldo. How Ronaldo would score more goals than ever seen before. How this would be his world cup like Pele's 1970, Kempes' 1978, Rossi's 1982, Maradona's 1986, and Romario's 1994. TV Programmes showed endless clips of his sublime skills, his genius. Months after the tragedy that was France '98. No credible explanation has appeared until now!! Clarkson's book to answer the question of what happened on that fateful day in Paris.He gives a complete picture of what makes up the man - Ronaldo. Clarkson delves into Ronaldo's childhood, giving an account of the early flashes of brilliance, his love of the game, his disappointments, the influence of his family and even his lack of confidence with girls. Then he takes us through Ronaldo's early career in a lowly 2nd division Brazillian League team. Then the breakthrough and subsequent move to Europe followed by stardom and megabucks. Then we are told of the trials and tribulations of his life in Europe. The immense build up to the World cup and the account of what actually happened to Ronaldo's Brazil. I must confess I did not let the book go until i had read in from cover to cover. Clarkson has a lovely smooth flowingly style of writing which captures the essence of the story. After reading the book I felt i had understood one of the most intriguing mysteries of footballing history.
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