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When the World Cup rolled around in Japan and South Korea in 2002, there were so many intriguing questions.

Will David Beckham’s metatarsal heal in time? How many goals will reign champions France score in their opener against Senegal? And what the f*** is that on top of Ronaldo’s head?

To answer the latter of those three questions, we have to cast our minds back a further four years, to the 1998 World Cup final in Paris.

Ronaldo, El Fenomeno, the simplest striker within the world was alleged to lead Brazil to a second consecutive World Cup triumph against France, who had never lifted the trophy.

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He was ablaze, having scored four goals within the tournament to guide Brazil to the ultimate, he was in touching distance of the golden boot.

He was also the poster boy for Nike, with his distinctive silver, blue and yellow boots marking him out before he’d even touched the ball.

The stage was set. But it all crumbled in front of him.

It was the night before the final and Roberto Carlos was on the phone to his Real Madrid teammate Christian Karembeu, whom he would be lining up against the following day in the World Cup final. Karembeu was calling Carlos to wish him luck before their clash. Ronaldo sat on the bed next to his roommate, watching a Formula 1 race on TV.

Karembeu recalled the moment some years later. “I just heard him roar and Roberto told me he had to travel. The phone went dead.”

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At the other end of that phone call, tragedy was unfurling before Carlos’ eyes as he screamed for help as Ronaldo writhed on the floor, frothing from the mouth. Another teammate Cesar Sampaio was first on the scene and put his hand in Ronaldo’s mouth to stop him from swallowing his tongue.

“I don’t remember properly,” Ronaldo recalled years later, “but I was drifting off to sleep, and then, like the doctor said, it seems I had a seizure for thirty or forty seconds.”

Ronaldo had had an epileptic fit, less than 24 hours before the biggest moment of his life.

The build-up to the final was dominated with rumours. What had happened to Ronaldo? Was he playing? Wasn’t he? Had he had a heart attack? The first teamsheet didn’t feature his name and shockwaves were sent around the world. A little later a new teamsheet, this time with his name, was produced and heads were being scratched all the harder.

Rumours that Nike had pushed for their poster boy to play despite not being medically fit were circulating – although denied – and Ronaldo was an anonymous figure who could only watch France run away 3-0 winners in Paris and claim the crown so many thought should have been his.

Flash forward four years and we’re back in Japan and South Korea and Ronaldo and his fitness is again the talk about the planet.

Ronaldo was once again the best player in the world. Source: AP

The three-time World Player of the Year had barely played after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his right knee in April 2000 and missed the entirety of Brazil’s World Cup qualification run. They were fortunate to even qualify without their star player and as such, once again a footballing-mad nations hopes weighed heavy on Ronaldo’s shoulders.

His fitness was on the front page of every Brazilian newspaper – and on the back page of most others around the world. The pressure to be fit was huge.

And then, determined not to have a repeat of 1998, he had a masterstroke.

“I had an injury in my leg and everybody was talking that,” Ronaldo revealed. “I decided to chop my hair and leave the tiny thing there. I come to training and everybody saw me with bad hair.

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“Everybody was talking about the hair and forgot about the injury. I could stay more calm and relaxed and focused on my training.

“I’m not proud of the hair itself because it was pretty strange. But it was a good way to change the subject.”

But it worked.

Ronaldo scored in every game except the quarter-final win over England and ended up with seven goals in total – including two in the final – and the Golden Boot.

Brazil won every game and Ronaldo was once more crowned FIFA World Player of the Year.