Soccer: Ronaldo fit for match against NZ

Brazil striker Ronaldo has recovered from the nagging thigh injury and will start against New Zealand in a soccer World Cup warm-up match in Geneva on June 4.

The injury had forced him to miss the last six weeks of the Spanish soccer season, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said on Tuesday.

Parreira intends to field Ronaldo in Brazil's opening World Cup match against Croatia on June 13, even though the 29-year-old will only regain full match fitness during the tournament.

"It seems that Ronaldo is better, he's been working with the ball and doing exercises of medium intensity," Parreira said on Tuesday.

"Ronaldo has been running and he just needs to regain match fitness. His weight is perfect."

Ronaldo was plagued by a string of minor injuries last season with Real Madrid whose fans believed he was overweight.

He last played in Real's 1-1 draw at home to Real Socieded on April 8 when he scored before limping off after an hour with an injury to his right thigh.

Parreira said he had no intention of resting Ronaldo from Brazil's two warm-up games against a local selection on May 30 and the All Whites in Geneva on June 4.

"He has to get rhythm and that's what the games are for," Parreira said.

"Two games will not give you the ideal rhythm, this will happen only during the tournament. He will improve during the tournament."

The All Whites play Hungary tomorrow morning (NZ time) in the opening game of their four-game European tour.

TEAM

New Zealand soccer team named to play Hungary:

Glen Moss, Danny Hay, Noah Hickey, Michael Wilson, Steven Old, Ivan Vicelich, Tim Brown, Jeremy Christie, Leo Bertos, Adrian Webster, Chris Killen.

Substitutes Bench: Ross Nicholson, David Mulligan, Che Bunce, Andrew Barron, Kris Bouckenooghe, Raf De Gregorio, Vaughan Coveny, Jeremy Brockie, Jarrod Smith.

- REUTERS