Teresopolis, Nov 13: Ronaldo trains with Brazilian national team for World Cup qualifiers. Ronaldo turned up for afternoon training with the Brazilian national team after missing the morning training session for personal reasons on Wednesday (November 12) amidst rumours that the Real Madrid striker was close to separating from his wife Milene Domingues. "There is nothing serious happening. There were some personal problems that I asked to be excused from training (morning session), nothing more," Ronaldo said at an evening news conference in Teresopolis. Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira confirmed that the 26-year-old striker had been excused on Wednesday as the world champions began their warm-up for Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Peru. Parreira, who has already lost left-back Roberto Carlos and striker Ronaldinho through injury, denied that Ronaldo was setting a bad example or being allowed privileges.
Ronaldo married Milene in December 1999 and the couple have a three-year-old son called Ronald. Speculation has been mounting about the pair for the last year.


Before she met Ronaldo, Milene had become known as the "Queen of the Keep-ups", displaying her talents for keeping a ball in the air on numerous TV shows.


Milene was at the centre of controversy in September when she was included in the Brazil squad for the women's World Cup.


Team officials admitted she had been included as much for the publicity she attracted as for her footballing ability.


Brazil, who top the South American World Cup qualifying group with a maximum six points from two games, play Peru on November 16 and Uruguay three days later.


Brazil's marathon, 18-match World Cup qualifying campaign began with a 2-1 win over Colombia on September 7. Three days later, they beat Ecuador 1-0.


Bureau Report