One of the most iconic, and indeed terrible haircuts in football is undoubtedly the original Ronaldo's 'protractor' look in the 2002 World Cup. Now, almost 16 years later we have an explanation.
The 98 cap Brazil international was speaking in Melbourne, where he headlined the announcement of Real Madrid's 'World of Football Experience' – an exhibition set to open in June before continuing to tour the world for another five years across 14 cities.
'O Fenômeno' revealed that the hairstyle was designed to deflect attention from the leg injury he had sustained in the 2002 tournament
I had an injury in my leg and everybody was talking about that. I decided to cut my hair and leave the small thing there. I come to training and everybody saw me with bad hair.
Everybody was talking about the hair and forgot about the injury. I could stay more calm and relaxed and focused on my training. I'm not proud about the hair itself because it was pretty strange. But it was a good way to change the subject.
You have to admit, it was a very ballsy way to change the conversation from the former Real Madrid forward, and it obviously worked as Ronaldo put in a man of the match performance, scoring both goals as Brazil defeated Germany 2-0 in the final.
Ronaldo was asked his thoughts on the upcoming World Cup this summer and the Ballon D'or winner cited the traditional favourites as well as his home nation as the frontrunners in Russia:
A few national teams that always will be there in the finals like Germany, Spain, France. All very strong teams. Let's see. I hope Brazil can win again. I'm very optimistic about the Brazilian national team. We changed a lot from the last two years ... improved a lot with the new coach.
