Djorkaeff reveals dressing-room visit to check on stricken Ronaldo before 1998 final

Youri Djorkaeff has given a remarkable first-hand account of the chaos that engulfed Brazil’s dressing room before the 1998 World Cup final, revealing he checked on a stricken Ronaldo just hours before kick-off. Speaking to FourFourTwo, the former France international recalled the strange, unsettling atmosphere at the Stade de France as rumours swirled over whether the Brazilian superstar would even take to the pitch.

Ronaldo, then the reigning Ballon d’Or winner and the outstanding player of the tournament, suffered a convulsive fit and lost consciousness on the afternoon of the final. He spent three hours in hospital before the match, according to the FourFourTwo account, leaving Brazil’s camp thrown into disarray only hours before one of football’s biggest occasions.

Djorkaeff’s dressing-room encounter

Djorkaeff described going into Brazil’s dressing room before the match to see for himself how Ronaldo was faring, amid the confusion over whether he had even been named on the team sheet. Mario Zagallo’s side were bidding to defend the title they had won in the United States four years earlier, and the uncertainty over their talisman’s fitness dominated the build-up.

Recalling the exchange, Djorkaeff said he told Ronaldo: “Don’t leave me out there playing alone.” The comment reflects the strange, almost surreal mood around the Stade de France that evening, with France’s players said to have been just as unsure as the watching world about what state their opponent was in.

One of football’s most bizarre pre-match episodes

The 1998 final remains one of the most talked-about occasions in World Cup history, not only for France’s triumph on home soil but for the mystery surrounding Ronaldo’s health scare. Speculation over what had happened, and why he was included in Brazil’s starting XI despite the frightening episode, persisted for years afterwards.

Djorkaeff’s recollections add a new layer of detail to that night, offering a rare glimpse from an opposing player’s perspective of just how unusual the atmosphere was before France ultimately beat Brazil to lift their first World Cup. The episode has long been regarded as one of the strangest build-ups to a major final in the sport’s history.

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