June 29, 2002

7:46 AM

Ronaldo experienced a seizure on the day of the WC98 final.This is a good background article on the events of July 12th, 1998 in Paris, where Ronaldo was foaming at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably just hours before game time. Also note the various conspiracy theories; from Nike forcing Ronaldo to play, to organizers bribing the Brazilians to lose the game.
posted by ( .)(. ) (4 comments total)

Here's another theory: shit happens.

The same thing happened to me. I was 32, in perfect health, one Saturday I went to the bathroom. Suddenly, I had a sensation something like a train running through my head, and the next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor looking up at EMTs. No drugs, previous head injuries, family history etc.

It's not that uncommon, and I can't imagine the amount of stress his body had been under over the last few weeks. Chemical imbalances due to loss of electrolytes from extreme exercise, there's probably a million other things that could have been a factor here.
posted by groundhog at 10:47 AM on June 29, 2002

I hope he gets a hat trick. I really do. The kid is a joy to watch and I hope he puts everything behind him tomorrow and goes on to enjoy the rest of a most promising career.
posted by dopamine at 5:09 PM on June 29, 2002

This being a feature story, the likeliest cause, a misplaced painkiller shot for his knee, is buried at the bottom of the story, if you didn't get that far. Xylocaine can cause just this sort of reaction if it is accidentally injected into a vein instead of the target tissue. The traumatic sight of their star striker in a spastic, foaming fit must have had a hell of a psychological impact on a team about to play its biggest game.

As for tonight, I'm rooting for the Germans to beat those cocky Brazilians, but I don't believe they can, and I really want to see some spectacular goals. So what I really want to see is a thrilling match.

Unfortunately, Japan is in the middle of a rainy season swoon this weekend. You can probably expect continuous moderate rain throughout the match.
posted by planetkyoto at 6:02 PM on June 29, 2002

Speaking of spectacular goals...Yung's free kick was a beauty! Curling right over the Turkish wall and into the top right hand corner, nothing Rusu could do about it! Tightest goal of post round robin play.
posted by ( .)(. ) at 8:53 PM on June 29, 2002