Ronaldo sets up unique meeting

"I hit it with the tip of my foot just as Romario used to do," beamed Ronaldo afterwards, comparing himself to his old hero and former Golden Boot winner. "But it's in the final that I plan to score the most important goal of my career."

And though Luiz Felipe Scolari's key player had been a doubtful starter because of a thigh muscle injury picked up against England, the coach joked that he had never had a moment's worry about him - once he'd seen his bizarre new 'triangular' hairstyle.

"I knew then that it was a sign that he was going to play and play well," said Scolari, who himself was enjoying a moment of redemption, leading Brazil to a third straight final after the virulent criticism he has received back home. "It was a beautiful goal."

Scolari eventually substituted Ronaldo in the 67th minute, saying: "I wanted to keep him fresh for Sunday.

"Germany are a strong team with a lot of tradition like us and they deserve our respect."

Ronaldo said: "I have to recover and rest now because it's been a hard World Cup. I felt muscle pains in the lower leg and thigh."

Earlier, both Ronaldo and Rivaldo's wonderful double act was frustrated on at least four occasions by the excellence of Recber as the prospect of the four-times champions meeting threetimes winners Germany had for a while looked in the balance.

And even though Brazil started playing some exhibition stuff near the end, they were still indebted to goalkeeper Marcos for making a superb save from Hakan Sukur in the 80th minute as Senol Gunes's men refused to lie down.

Yet, following the Germans' 1-0 semi-final win over Korea in Seoul yesterday which had restored some order to a topsy-turvy competition, the World Cup now has a familiar heavyweight climax to savour on Sunday.