The doctors who treated Brazilian striker Ronaldo the night before their surprise 3-0 defeat in the World Cup final have spoken to the media - and spread little light on the mystery.

Theories have been buzzing around France, Brazil and the rest of the world ever since Brazil crashed to a surprise 3-0 defeat at the hands of underdogs France in the the World Cup final.

The focus has fallen on a mysterious late night illness that afflicted Ronaldo.

The incident, which has variously been described as a "fit", an "attack", food poisoning, reaction to a pain killing knee jab and even an anxiety attack, forced him to visit a nearby clinic for examination.

But the one independent source in a position to know and perfectly placed to give their professional opinion - the men at the clinic who treated Ronaldo - are refusing to say much of significance.

Head of the clinic at Les Lilas, Philippe Krief, said on Wednesday (July 15) the clinic's doctors had to stick to their professional ethics and respect patient confidentiality.

But he did say it was significant the 21-year-old appeared totaly normal when he arrived for treatment, walking without help.

Krief said a whole battery of tests were carried out according to the wishes of the clinics doctors and the Brazilian medical advisers.

He said the results of the tests were passed to the team medical staff who passed them to Ronaldo and it was the team and its doctors who made the decision whether he should play or not.

Some have said the decision to leave him out of the side and the resulting controversy leading to his return surely proved distracting on the eve of such a crucial match.

Ronaldo himself has admitted he was not 100 per cent fit.

Meanwhile the director of the hotel where Ronaldo was staying that night says there were initial fears the night of the incident that Ronaldo had died.

Cries of "he's dead, he's dead" filled the hotel after Ronaldo was found having a convulsive fit on Sunday, the hotel director said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

Ronaldo fell ill in his team's hotel on the outskirts of Paris just hours before the World Cup final.

"There was general alarm with yells and shouts which woke up all the players, who were in the middle of their siesta," hotel director Paul Chevalier told France Info radio station.

"For a time we heard people saying 'he's dead, dead, dead'," Chevalier added."It created a terrible atmosphere around the team which was clearly demonstrated later on the pitch." France beat Brazil 3-0 in the final.

The 21-year old striker said later he had feared for his life during the brief fit.Ronaldo reportedly swallowed his tongue during the convulsions.

He was taken to hospital for checks and later joined the Brazil squad at the Stade de France.He was controversially included in the team for the final, after initially being omitted, but failed to produce anything like his normal form.

"I suppose Ronaldo's nerves broke.He has been under dreadful pressure and he is young," Chevalier said.

Normally when the Brazilians left for their matches there was a party atmosphere with singing and music, but the mood before Sunday's final was very different.

"When they left the hotel at six or 6.30 for the Stade de France there was complete silence on the bus and we who knew them personally understood at that moment that there was no cohesion and they had lost the cup," Chevalier said.

Brazil had been based in the Chateau de la Grande Romanie hotel in the village of Lesigny since May 22.

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