Corinthians fuel Ronaldo comeback rumors

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Corinthians qualified³ for the tournament in Japan after completing a 3-1 aggregate⁴ victory over Boca Juniors on Wednesday in the Copa Libertadores final.

Ronaldo, 35, played his last match for Corinthians in February 2011. He made a farewell international appearance four months later with a 15-minute cameo during Brazil's 1-0 victory over Romania in Sao Paulo.

Corinthians director Roberto de Andrade entertained the prospect⁶ of a Ronaldo comeback during a press conference on Friday.

"I'm hearing you and to be honest I don't know how to respond," Andrade told local media.

"It would be a great idea. I don't know if he would accept it or if he would be physically⁷ fit enough to play.

"But in terms of football ability, he has it all. We will talk about it internally to see."Later the club's football manager Edu Gaspar moved to play down speculation⁸ about the idol's possible return.

"I see Ronaldo more as an ambassador and somebody who can open up doors because of what he has done," Gaspar told Lancenet.

"But playing would create a party atmosphere and we don't want that, with all due respect to Ronaldo. We're not going there for marketing⁹, we're going to win."Ronaldo's representatives could not be reached for comment by Xinhua on Friday.

The former Barcelona, Inter⁵ Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan star was voted FIFA player of the year on three occasions and is the all-time leading World Cup scorer with 15 goals.

The FIFA Club World Cup is contested annually¹⁰ by the champions of each of the continental¹¹ confederations.

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