An unused member of the 1994 World Cup-winning squad, Ronaldo bounced back from the disappointment of losing the 1998 final to score the goals that beat Germany in the Japan final of 2002.

Ronaldo had just recovered from a knee injury that had kept him out of action for more than a year, but he has missed all but one of Real Madrid's matches so far this season.

But it is not just injuries that have affected Ronaldo's hopes of starting for Brazil in the finals in Germany next year.

Adriano, known as the "emperor" has received rave reviews over the past year and when the pair played together in Brazil's 5-0 qualifing win over Chile, it was Adriano who scored a hat-trick, not his predecessor at Inter Milan.

Even at club level, Ronaldo now has to compete with the former Santos forward Robinho, who joined him at the Bernabeu this summer. With Kaka performing well at AC Milan and Ronaldinho continuing to star at Barcelona, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has a wealth of talent at his disposal.

"I imagine that, with Kaka on the right and Ronaldinho on the left," said Parreira. "We'll have Ronaldo, Adriano and Robinho to determine who completes the square."

Ronaldo's cause was not helped when he asked to be rested from the Confederations Cup squad this summer - when Adriano's goals won Brazil the title - and Parreira then rested him for the qualifiers against Argentina and Paraguay.

Ronaldo, who has scored an impressive 50 goals in 74 games for Brazil, says he still has the scoring records of Zico and Romario to break and has his sights on a fifth World Cup in 2010 – a feat not even Pele achieved.

"For me, this Cup won’t be the last," Ronaldo said recently. "Five years from now, I hope to be physically healthy and motivated to play one more Cup. I want to break every record possible," he said.

"But the important thing is to win the Cup."