June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Ronaldo scored a World Cup-record 15th goal for Brazil after being criticized by former and current teammates for being slow and overweight at the start of the tournament.

The 29-year-old striker, the top scorer at the 2002 World Cup, dribbled around the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into the net in the fifth minute in Dortmund, Germany, to give the defending champion a 1-0 lead over Ghana. Adriano got Brazil's second today before halftime and Ze Roberto scored the third in the 84th minute.

The Real Madrid player matched the tally of Germany's Gerd Mueller with two goals in a 4-1 win over Japan on June 22. Ronaldo's first score in that game moved him ahead of Pele as Brazil's most prolific World Cup striker. After failing to find the net in the opening win against Croatia, Ronaldo was criticized by Kaka, who got the only goal, for his lack of movement.

Ronaldo weighed 94 kilos (207 pounds) at a pre-tournament training camp, 19 kilos more than when he won the World Cup in 1994, Brazilian sports daily Lance said, citing Moacir Sant'Anna, one of the squad's physical trainers.

The three-time world player of the year, who got eight goals at the 2002 World Cup including two in the final, said he had struggled after going 45 days without training in the build-up to the tournament.

His lack of fitness and the heat in Germany during games meant he needed treatment for dizziness and headaches. Tests failed to show any abnormalities and he resumed training, lasting 71 minutes against Australia in the second group game before getting substituted.

Brazil, seeking a record-extending sixth world title, is playing 48th-ranked team Ghana for a quarterfinal place against Spain or France. Ronaldo said he suffered a fit before the 1998 World Cup final against France, which Brazil lost 3-0.

HIGHEST SCORERS AT SOCCER'S WORLD CUP

Ronaldo (Brazil)                   15
Gerd Muller (Germany)              14
Juste Fontaine (France)            13
Pele (Brazil)                      12
Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)         11
Sandor Kocsis (Hungary)            11
Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)      10
Teofilio Cubillas (Peru)           10
Grzegorz Lato (Poland)             10
Gary Lineker (England)             10
Helmut Rahn (Germany)              10

To contact the reporters on this story: Grant Clark at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin gclark@bloomberg.net; Andreas Cremer at the FIFA stadium in Dortmund acremer@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 27, 2006 13:01 EDT