World Cup South American qualifying: Ronaldo buried memories of Real Madrid's dismal end to the season and speculation that he is putting on weight with his penalty hat-trick in Brazil's 3-1 win over Argentina on Wednesday.
Brazilian television commentators have openly described the Brazil number nine as "a little on the fat side" in recent months, angering Ronaldo.
"My ideal weight is 88 kilos. I don't know how much I weigh at the moment and I don't really care," he said before the World Cup qualifier in Belo Horizonte.
Against Argentina, Ronaldo made the question irrelevant and looked sharp as he won all three penalties and then converted them all.
All three were awarded in similar circumstances.
Ronaldo picked up the ball midway inside the Argentine half, ran straight at the heart of the defence and enticed his opponents to trip him up.
On the first occasion, it was Gabriel Heinze who floored him with a late, sliding tackle. Javier Mascherano was next with a reckless challenge from behind, and finally, deep into injury time, goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero.
There have been at least three international hat-tricks of penalties before, converted by Henrik Larsson in Sweden's 6-0 win over Moldova in June 2001, by Kubilay Turkyilmaz in Switzerland's 5-1 win over Faroe Islands the year before and by Dimitris Saravakos, who also got two from open play, in Greece's 6-1 friendly win over Egypt in 1990.
At the other end of the scale, Argentina's Martin Palermo missed three penalties in a Copa America match against Colombia in 1999.
This was, however, the first time a penalty hat-trick has been converted in such a prestigious match and almost certainly the only time the scorer has won all the penalties himself.
The two rival coaches agreed that the "Phenomenon", who was the leading goalscorer at the 2002 World Cup with eight goals, had once again made the difference.
"Ronaldo is the best forward in world football and thankfully he plays for the Brazil team," said Brazil's Carlos Alberto Parreira. "There are still people in Brazil who question him. But today he made the difference."
"Ronaldo was the player who was the determining factor in the game," said Argentina's Marcelo Bielsa.
Even the Argentine media, who agreed the first two penalties were fair but questioned the third, were in agreement.
"A brilliant Ronaldo made the difference," said the daily Clarin.
Ronaldo's third international hat-trick (the others were against Lithuania in 1996 and Australia one year later), came as he returned to the Mineirao stadium, where he began his career, for the first time in 10 years.
As a 16-year-old with Cruzeiro, Ronaldo scored breathtaking goals which would have caused a worldwide sensation if they had been scored in Europe. His feats included five goals in a single Brazilian championship match against Bahia and an individual effort against Argentina's Boca Juniors which rivalled the one Diego Maradona scored against England in the 1986 World Cup.
"It was marvellous, excellent," said Ronaldo. "This is my home."
BRAZIL: Dida; Cafu, Juan, Roque Junior, Roberto Carlos; Edmilson, Juninho Pernambucano, Ze Roberto, Kaka; Ronaldo, Luis Fabiano. Subs: Julio Baptista, Alex.
ARGENTINA: Pablo Cavallero; Facundo Quiroga, Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze; Javier Zanetti, Javier Mascherano, Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pablo Sorin; Cesar Delgado, Hernan Crespo, Cristian Gonzalez. Subs: Pablo Aimar, Mauro Rosales, Javier Saviola.
Referee: O Ruiz (Colombia)
