'I meant it' - Ronaldinho

By Matthew Jones
June 22 2002

English fans could not believe it, when Ronaldinho scored a freekick just after half time. Even when Ronaldinho got sent off, England coild not get back into the game.

Brazil striker Ronaldinho has insisted he meant his stunning winning goal in the 2-1 World Cup quarter-final win over England in Shizuoka.

The Paris Saint-Germain star, who created Brazil's equaliser for Rivaldo, then caught out England goalkeeper David Seaman from 30-yards with a bizarre curling free-kick in the second half which dipped into the net.

Many observers believed it was a fluke, but Ronaldinho said: "Cafu had alerted me that their goalkeeper played off his line. I had a shot at goal and I was lucky."

His eventful day, however, did not end there as he was sent off just seven minutes later for a tackle on Danny Mills.

But he felt it was a harsh decision, adding: "It was all very quick, the referee decided to send me off. Unfortunately, there's no way back.
"It wasn't a red-card offence. Mills himself, who suffered the foul, told me this and everybody in the stadium saw it."