Ronaldo became all-time top scorer at the
World Cup finals with 15 goals as Brazil beat Ghana 3-0 in Dortmund on
Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals.
Ronaldo's goal after five minutes took him past the 14 goals scored by
Gerd Muller of West Germany at the 1970 and 1974 finals.
Adriano slid in a second at the end of the first half and Ze Roberto's
third on 84 guaranteed defending champions Brazil going through to face
Spain or France.
Ghana ended the match with 10 men, striker Asamoah Gyan sent off in the
81st minute when he collected his second yellow card for a dive.
Brazil, seeking a fourth successive final appearance and a sixth triumph,
got the ideal start.
Kaka sprang the offside trap with a pass into the path of Ronaldo and
the striker bamboozled Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingston with a
quickstep dummy to score his third goal of the current tournament.
Ghana, without suspended midfield inspiration Michael Essien, looked in
disarray in the first 20 minutes.
They gradually settled to attack the shaky heart of the Brazilian
defense and create a series of chances that had the world champions
rattled.
Matthew Amoah should have scored but scuffed his shot in front of goal
after 24 minutes and John Mensah then met a corner with a perfect
downward header that Brazil keeper Dida somehow kept out with his foot.
Ghana were then stunned on the break with a controversial goal as Kaka
fed the overlapping Cafu, making a Brazilian record 19th World Cup
finals appearance.
Adriano was probably marginally offside as he drove into the six-yard
box to nudge home his captain's low cross.
The Ghana players protested to no avail as did their Serbian coach
Ratomir Dujkovic, who was sent to the stands for his troubles.
The last remaining African side in the competition did well to come out
fighting, with Gyan forcing Dida into a good diving save after 69
minutes.
But midfielder Ze Roberto added the third in the 84th minute when he
slipped the Ghanaian offside trap once more.
Ronaldo's other two goals in the current tournament came in the 4-1
defeat of Japan in the first round.
The 29-year-old Real Madrid striker, criticized for his performance in
Brazil's first two games when he appeared to be overweight and out of
form, also scored four goals in the 1998 World Cup and eight in 2002.