A postscript to all that Brazil stuff with a look at their 2002 World Cup win from a different angle, featuring a song which was dedicated to the rotund one:

Fat Ronaldo celebrates

Pictured above. Fatty Ron celebrating with Pele (who can’t keep his eyes off that used-a-steam-iron-as-a-template bit of hair on his forehead) before being carried around by his team mates – who were treated for a hernia later on.

– Before I continue here’s a reminder of that final with commentary by Motty:

In case you can’t watch that clip: This was the game that was going to help relieve that bad memory and performance in the 1998 World Cup by the “biggest player in the world”.

Coming into this final it was a case of the “the three R’s” (Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and a resurgent Ronaldo) who were up against Olli Kahn, who afterwards was voted the best player of the tournament.

In the first half it was all Brazil and they laid siege to the Germans goal but by halftime it was still nil-nil thanks to Kahn (and the crossbar) denying a number of chances.

The Germans came out in the second half and it was their turn to trouble the Brazil back four, but again like Brazil in the first half they couldn’t find a way through.
fatronaldogoal
Then in the 67th minute Kahn deflected – but crucially didn’t hold a shot by Rivaldo and Ronaldo was close enough behind to knock it in. [3mins 21secs on the above vid] Then in the 79th minute old triangular soul patch-but-in-the-wrong-place stroked in the winner.

– There was some German fans who watched all this and have recalled that day perfectly in song form.

With thanks to Stephan Uersfeld, who supplied the following….

The group were called Herr Nilsson (which is the name of s Pippi Longstocking’s monkey) but they are sadly no more. /  If you google for that you’ll find a Norwegian band who have now taken that name. That band and this one are not one in the same. / The German Herr Nilsson lasted about 10 years and had some success. » Their German Wikipedia entry translated.

As mentioned in 2002 after that final they took to pen and paper and eventually recorded a song about that frustrating, defeated day for their team, thanks to a chubby cherub in the yellow shirt.

Herr Nilsson » Herr Nilsson – Ronaldo

» Herr Nilsson – Ronaldo (Remix)

Stephan was gracious enough to take the time to transcribe and translate the lyrics – in which it mentions about Oli Kahn’s finger and about how the humidity affected his gloves that night:

“…and the torn ligament in our gods little finger/which nobody knew about then/and the gloves (yes, the gloves)/and the humiditiy/the japanese monsum…”

I forgot about that bit and immediately remembered again when I read those lines. Kahn had a finger ligament injury which was either not well known at the time, or was know but he decided to play through the pain (this bit I can’t recall). Plus all that with the gloves.

Als wir glaubten, dass wer wirklich etwas will
alles kann und erreicht
/(when we believed, that somebody wants something soo much
everythings possible, every goal to be reached)/

Als wir glaubten, unser Land wär dafür ja wohl bekannt
sich so durchzumauscheln
/(when we believed, our land was know for
fiddling its way)/

Kam ein Ball, dem man nicht ansah
dass die Brasilianer tiefer glauben
Kam der Heiland höchstpersönlich,
um ihn abzustauben
/(there was this shot, that didnt look like
brazilians have a deeper faith
came the saviour in person
to tap it in)/

Als wir glaubten, unser Torwart sei Achilles
mit gut zugetapeten Fersen
Als wir glaubten, unsere Zeit für die Einschußmöglichkeit
sei jetzt greifbar nahe
/(when we believed, our keeper was achilles
with taped heels
when we believed, it was our time to score)
/
Kam ein Ball, dem man nicht ansah
dass Rivaldo ihn
und dann der nasse Boden
und der Bänderriss im kleinen Finger unseres Gottes
den noch keiner ahnen konnte
und die Handschuh (ja die Handschuh)
und die Nässe
der japanische Monsum
/(there was this shot, that didnt look like
that rivaldo
and the soppy pitch
and the torn ligament in our gods little finger
which nobody knew about then
and the gloves (yes, the gloves)
and the humiditiy
the japanese monsum)/

und in Zeitlupe
da krabelte ein Kind
durch den Moment, in dem wir mitgestorben sind
und der Heiland fuhr herab
nur um auszführen
was man ihm aufgetragen
und uns Atheisten kurz zu sagen
/(and in slow motion
a kind crawled
through the moment we all died together
and the saviour drove down
only to conduct
what he had been told
to briefly tell us atheists)/

Oliver Kahn in der Designerbrille
spiegelt sich dein deutscher Wille
siehst du nicht
dass Brasilianer tiefer glauben, tiefer glauben
und wenn nötig abzustauben kommen
/(Oliver Kahn, your designer shades
reflect your german will
but dont you see
that Brazilians have a deeper faith, a deeper faith
and when necessary come to tap in)/

Kam ein Ball, dem man nicht ansah
dass die Brasilianer tiefer glauben
Kam der Heiland höchstpersönlich
um ihn abzustauben
/(there was this shot, that didnt look like
brazilians have a deeper faith
came the saviour in person
to tap it in)/

Extra Time:

A couple of bonus tracks from Herr Nilsson, the first one was the A Side of the single that the above Ronaldo track was on. The other was an English/German language track that was on their 2003 Einfacher sein album, along with the single:

» Herr Nilsson – Die Vitamin B Werke

» Herr Nilsson – The World Needs Me

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