Ronaldo prospers at scene of past glory

Real Madrid 2 Olimpia 0

Real Madrid 2 Olimpia 0

Ronaldo led Spanish giants Real Madrid to a well-deserved victory over Paraguay's Olimpia in the Inter-Continental Cup today as he returned to the Yokohama Stadium, the scene of his World Cup final triumph.

Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he latched onto a pass from fellow Brazilian Roberto Carlos in a move set up by Zinedine Zidane.

Second-half substitute Guti scored in the 84th minute, just two minutes after coming on, with a close-range header following a Luis Figo cross.

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Ronaldo, 26, scored twice in Brazil's 2-0 victory over Germany at the Yokohama Stadium in June as he finished the tournament as top scorer with eight goals.

He joined the Spanish powerhouse from Italian side Inter Milan at the end of August. The star-studded European champions are currently celebrating their 100th anniversary and the result banishes the memory of their shock defeat two years ago when they came to Tokyo as favourites and crashed to Boca Juniors of Argentina 2-1.

It was a third world club title for Real, following their victories in 1960 and 1998. The nine-time European champions were losers in 1966 to Penarol of Uruguay 2-0 in their other appearance.

Three-time Copa Libertadores winners Olimpia, who also had hoped to celebrate the club's 100th anniversary with a win here, failed to regain the world title they won in 1979.