MARCH 29, 2001

Schumacher upstaged by footballing legends

FERRARI's Michael Schumacher starred alongside Brazilian footballing legends in a charity match watched by a crowd of 40,000 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.

FERRARI's Michael Schumacher starred alongside Brazilian footballing legends in a charity match watched by a crowd of 40,000 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.

But the keen footballer could not find his form on a night when he was upstaged by striking partner and former World Player of the year Ronaldo, who scored five goals on his return from injury.

"It was great fun playing alongside Schumacher," said Ronaldo. "He by no means looked out of place. We even worked out some neat one-twos together."

But Schumacher suffered a disappointing performance from his right foot, which is more used to pushing down the throttle on his F2001.

He missed a string of scoring opportunities but finally made it onto the scoresheet with a second-half penalty.

However, as his German national side secured a 4-2 win against Greece on the same evening, there is little chance of a late career switch for the F1 champion.