"Two Rs" Comes to Korea

"Two Rs" comes to Korea soon.

Three soccer stars are collectively referred to as the 3 Rs, an acronym after the initials of their last names. The three Brazilian players are Ronald, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, all of whom played in the 2002 World Cup and got their team the championship.

Out of these three, 2 Rs excluding Rivaldo will come to Korea as part of the Brazilian team taking on its Korean counterpart on Nov. 20th at Sangahm World Cup stadium. The Brazilian authority notified the Korean Soccer Federation on Nov. 13th of the list of the players, who will play in the upcoming A match.

Who is Ronaldo? The striker Pele himself named the Emperor of Soccer for his miraculous dribbling and fantastic shooting. In the last World Cup, he broke the record of 6 goals and recorded 8 goals for the first time in history. In short, he is a scoring machine. His unique dribble of swirling the ball and kicking it ahead is not defensible, arousing fear among opponent defenders.

What really makes his fans fascinated is his unyielding spirits. In 1998, he sustained a serious knee injury, and again in 2000, had his knee muscles busted. But he came back with victory, moving everyone who knows of the story.

Then, Rinaldinho, who fascinated the world with his childlike smile. The world`s best two tops, Ronaldo and Rivaldo, were assisted by the smart distribution of the ball by Ronaldinho, contributing to Brazil`s grabbing the championship. He is equipped with what an excellent midfielder is required to have: fantastic dribbling, accurate free kicks and intelligent playing in games. In the semi-final of the World Cup, he assisted Rivaldo in making the tie goal against England, and got the victory for his team with the goal made by his free kick. After that, nobody has doubted his status of a world star.

The two Rs, namely Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, are determined to win over Korea, and thereby keeping the pride of Brazil as the most powerful soccer nation in the world.

In the meanwhile, the upcoming A match between Korea and Brazil will be the final game for the retiring Brazilian coach. Other big world stars will be on hand to honor the last game.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com