SAITAMA -- Brazil booked a spot in the World Cup final with a deserved 1-0 win over Turkey at the Saitama Stadium on Wednesday night. Throughout the tournament, Brazil had relied on the star quality of a handful of players and this game was no different as a piece of individual brilliance by Ronaldo turned a game that Brazil had dominated.
In the 49th minute, Ronaldo took a ball from Gilberto Silva, turned two Turkish defenders and with a burst of speed raced into the box before crashing in an unorthodox toe-poke that caught Turkish 'keeper Rustu Recber by surprise, glancing his glove as it glided into the back of the net.
Ronaldo to that point had looked strangely subdued yet it took just one moment of magic from the striker to elevate himself into top spot in the goalscoring charts with six goals from six games and send his team into the final where it will meet Germany for the first time in World Cup history.