Ronaldo may go to Inter in 1997

OVERSEAS FOOTBALL

PSV Eindhoven's teenage Brazilian striker, Ronaldo, could move to Internazionale as part of the deal which took the Dutch international, Wim Jonk, to PSV from the Milan club.

Last week, Jonk signed a four-year contract with PSV in a deal estimated at £1.5m. He joined Inter from Ajax two seasons ago. As part of the deal, Inter took out an option on Ronaldo, who has made a huge impact on Dutch football, scoring 26 goals in 29 games in his first season. However, the option cannot be taken up until 1997.

Ronaldo, 18, was in Brazil's victorious 1994 World Cup squad although he did not appear in the finals. He turned down offers from Ajax and several Italian clubs to join PSV from Cruzeiro last summer for £3.75m.

Ronaldo was included in the squad named yesterday by the Brazilian national coach, Mario Zagalo, for a friendly against Israel in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. It includes four uncapped players under the age of 23: Roger of Gremio Porto Alegre, Amaral of Palmeiras, Leandro of Internacional, and the promising forward Caio, from So Paulo.

Zagalo was unable to pick any players from Flamengo, Vasco da Gama, Atletico Mineiro or Cruzeiro, who are all invloved in Brazilian Cup games on the same day, so Romario, Branco, Ricardo Rocha and Taffarel are unavailable. However, as well as Ronaldo, Aldair of Roma, Cafu of Real Zaragoza and Dunga of VfB Stuttgart have been picked.

Up front, Zagalo is expected to choose Ronaldo and Tulio of Botafogo, the leading scorer in the Rio club championship.

Marcio Santos of Fiorentina, a member of the World Cup winning side, was originally selected for the squad, but has been withdrawn at the request of his Italian club because of stress.

Zagalo hopes to form the core of a renewed national team with a number of up-and-coming young players such as Amoroso, Savio, Marques, Souza and Juninho.

South Korea's leading football official said yesterday that he was optimistic about the prosects of a joint bid with North Korea for the right to stage the 2002 World Cup finals.

Chung Mong-joon, the president of the Korea Football Association and vice-chairman of South Korea's bid to host the 2002 tournament, said he had held discussions with North Korean officials over jointly hosting the finals. "We have met officials from the North Korean football association in foreign countries," he said.

South Korea and Japan are the only two candidates competing to host the 2002 World Cup. Fifa, world football's ruling body, will make its final decision in June next year.

BRAZIL SQUAD (International friendly v Israel, Tel Aviv, 17 May): Goalkeepers: Zetti (So Paulo), Danrlei (Gremio Porto Alegre). Defenders: Cafu (Real Zaragoza), Rodrigo (Vitoria), Roberto Carlos (Palmeiras), Roger (Gremio Porto Alegre), Aldair (Roma), Adriano (Sport Recife), Narciso (Santos), Cleber (Palmeiras). Midfielders: Amaral (Palmeiras), Flavio Conceico (Palmeiras), Doriva (XV de Piracicaba), Dunga (VfB Stuttgart), Rivaldo (Palmeiras), Juninho (So Paulo), Giovanni (Santos), Sergio Manoel (Botafogo). Forwards: Tulio (Botafogo), Ronaldo (PSV Eindhoven), Caio (So Paulo), Leandro (Internacional).