Corinthians fuel Ronaldo comeback rumors

 RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian club Corinthians has fueled rumors¹ that legendary² striker Ronaldo could make a comeback at the FIFA Club World Cup in December.

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.

1 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

5 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

9 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

10 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

11 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。