ALMOST eleven years ago at this time of the year, only three men in the world had the belief that Ronaldo could inspire Brazil to World Cup victory.

He was suffering from a crippling knee injury and the promise that he had shown as a youngster had faded. But Ronaldo believed, his surgeon believed and above all, his national team coach Luiz Felpie Scolari believed.

And after a season in which he barely played for Inter Milan, he was the star of the 2002 FIFA World Cup as Brazil were crowned World Champions for a fifth time.

Scolari had delivered the Pentecampeao. However, there was another player on that team who Scolari had put his trust in.

He was a part of Brazil`s fear-some attacking triumvirate that also included Ronaldo and the legendary Rivaldo.

He was Ronaldinho or little Ronaldo.

Scolari was under intense pressure to include 36-year-old veteran Romario in his squad, which would have denied the precocious 22-year-old Paris Saint-Germain attacker a starting position in Brazil`s formation.

But he ignored public protests and media criticism about his decision to dump Romario, claiming the 1994 World Cup winner and Brazilian legend was too much of a Prima donna for his tightly-knit squad.

Brazil had used more than 50 players during their two-year qualifying campaign for the World Cup but it was Ronaldinho who brought the imagination and flair to Scolari`s team that many initially considered an antidote to Brazil`s beau-tiful playing style known as `Joga Bonito` At the World Cup in Korea and Japan, Ronaldinho repaid Scolari`s faith in style, forming what was arguably the most dangerous attacking formation in the world alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

His moment of magic came against England in the quarterfinal when his looping free-kick caught out goalkeeper David Seaman to put Brazil in the semi-final.

In the preceding decade, Ronaldinho scaled unimaginable heights in his career and fell to bitter lows.

But now Ronaldinho`s belief is back, Scolari`s back at the helm and Brazil is hosting a World Cup in eighteen months time.

A year after the World Cup triumph, Ronaldinho left PSG for Barcelona, a replacement for Rivaldo.And he rocked the Nou Camp.

He was the catalyst behind Barca`s resurgence, a reason why the club is back amongst Europe`s elite.

He led them to UEFA Champions League glory and La Liga titles on the way to being crowned World Player of the Year twice.

But after Barca dumped him to AC Milan in 2008, Ronaldinho seemed to have lost it. There were just a few flashes of brilliance from a player who had invented one trick after another during his stint with Barca.

He even lost his place in the Brazil side after the 2006 World Cup in Germany where Brazil lost to France in the quarterfinals. He wasn`t on the plane that took the Brazil team to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

Without much success with Milan, he left for his homelandand joined Rio de Janeiro giants Flamengo in 2011. There again, he found little success and more criticism.

Differences developed between him and the Flamengo management over months of unpaid wages and in June this year, he joined Atletico Mineiro.

Since then he has shown similar consistency that he showed in his Barca days.

He`s featured in 31 of his side`s 37 games this season, scoring nine goals and creating 11 assists as he took the Belo Horizonte club to a place in South America`s marquee club event, the Copa Libertadores next season.

His performances prompted the club and fans to create a petition asking him to stay for another year.

On Thursday, when Scolari replaced Mano Menezes as Brazil coach till the 2014 WorldCup, Ronaldinho agreed to an extension.

Brazil are struggling, just like they were struggling when Scolari was handed the job in 2001.

Ronaldinho`s former teammate Ronaldo, who is now a member of the 2014 World Cup local organizing committee, told Globoesporte on Thursday that the national team is at their `worst moment in history` Brazil have young starlets like Neymar, Ganso and Oscar coming through but there is no direction.

With Ronaldinho now revelling in the same role as he did for Barca with his singular ability to impose himself on the game, Scolari just like he did in 2001 might just put his trust in him to inspire Brazil all over again.

That is precisely why Ronaldinho is staying with Atletico.`Since the day I arrived at this club I have been made to feel so welcome,` Ronaldinho said in a statement on Thursday.

`I have a great relationship with everybody: the president, my team-mates, the coaching staff, but most of all the fans, who have really won my affection. All of those factors convinced me to stay.

`My objective is to guide the team in the Copa Libertadores next year and rejoin the national team and compete in the 2013 Confederations Cup http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Co nfederations-Cup, a key step to win a slot on the 2014 World Cup squad.

And like Scolari and the rest of Brazil, Ronaldinho, having found his love for the game again, will be keenly looking forward to the draw for the Confederations Cup which will be made on Saturday.