29 June 1997 - Brazil Hits The Heights

On 29 June 1997, Brazil reached won their fifth South American Championship/Copa América, beating hosts Bolivia 3-1.

The reigning World Cup champions rolled through the group stage, winning all three of their matches, then advanced to the final with a 2-0 win over Paraguay and a 7-0 demolition of Peru. There, they faced Bolivia, the only other team in the tournament with a perfect record up to that point.

They met at Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz, whose altitude of almost 12,000 feet above sea level has proven to be an asset to Bolivia, as visiting teams often have trouble acclimating. The tournament organizers clearly intended to use the location strategically, as Bolivia played all of their earlier matches there, while Brazil had played all of theirs in Santa Cruz, with a much lower altitude of 1,365 feet.

But Brazil managed to adapt. After going into the break level at 1-1, they went ahead with a goal from Ronaldo in the 79th minute, then sealed the win with a 90th-minute strike from Zé Roberto.

21 November 1999 - Ronaldo's Black-And-Blue Period Begins

On 21 November 1999, Inter striker Ronaldo suffered a severe knee injury against Lecce that derailed his career for almost three years.

The 1997 Ballon d'Or winner was in his third season with Inter after moving from Barcelona. He had had an outstanding first season, scoring 39 goals in 56 appearances across all competitions, but his form dropped in the second, with a total of 15 goals.

He appeared to be back to his old self at the start of the 1999-2000 season, scoring five times in his first eleven appearances. The fifth goal came against Lecce in Inter's tenth league match of the season--he scored from the penalty spot in the 49th minute to put Inter up 5-0 en route to a 6-0 victory. But shortly after scoring, he ruptured a tendon in his right knee.

After an intense five-month rehabilitation period, Ronaldo returned to the pitch in April for the Coppa Italia final against Lazio, but re-injured his knee after only seven minutes. He missed the remainder of that season, the entire 2000-01 season and part of the 2001-02 season.

He went through another lengthy rehab period and recovered in time to help Brazil win the 2002 World Cup. The same year, he claimed his second Ballon d'Or.

Unfortunately for Ronaldo, his history of knee injuries was not over. In 2008, while playing for AC Milan, he ruptured a tendon in his left knee, forcing another long layoff, though he again recovered and played for Corinthians between 2009 and 2011 before finally retiring.

6 May 1998 - An Italian Affair In Paris

On 6 May 1998, Inter won their third UEFA Cup, beating Serie A rivals Lazio 3-0.

There had been three previous all-Italian UEFA Cup Finals, including Inter's first win in 1991 when they beat Roma. They won it again in 1994 over Casino Salzburg and returned to the Final in 1997, but lost to Schalke. Lazio, meanwhile, were making their first appearance in a Final.

For the 1998 edition, UEFA abandoned their previous two-legged format for a single match, which was played at the Parc des Princes in Paris. A crowd of 44,412 turned out to see the teams face each other for a third time that season--Lazio had gotten the better of Inter in the league, drawing 1-1 in Milan and winning 3-0 in Rome. But Inter wasted little time in staking their claim to the UEFA Cup, going up 1-0 when forward Iván Zamorano beat Lazio keeper Luca Marchegiani from close range in just the 5th minute. Zamorano nearly doubled the lead shortly after the break, but his shot rebounded off the post.

Center back Javier Zanetti did doubled the lead in the 60th minute with a blast from outside the box that curled into the top right corner of the net. Ten minutes later, Inter's record signing Ronaldo (pictured) capped the victory by beating Marchegiani with a dribble, then rolling the ball into the empty net.

It was Inter's last European trophy until they won the Champions League in 2010.