Sao Paulo - Ronaldo's recovery from knee surgery is well on track, and he is now a starter at Corinthians and again scored in his team's 2-1 victory over Sao Caetano in the Sao Paulo state championship.

"Everything is going very well, I am happy," the veteran striker said after the game Wednesday night.

Ronaldo - who returned to the pitch this month over a year after undergoing the third serious knee surgery of his career - played for almost 80 minutes and scored the goal that sealed Corinthians' win. This was also his first home game before his team's demanding fans.

"Ronaldo remains above his (ideal) weight and lacks the ideal play tempo. Even so he makes a difference. He cannot run like before, but with the ball at his feet he still provides evidence that the Corinthians attack will have a very respectable number 9," the daily Folha de Sao Paulo said Thursday.

At a press conference in the early hours of Thursday, the striker, 32, said he was "very happy" about his return to football although there remains "a lot to improve."

"I have to improve some things. There will be tough times, there will be times when I will not manage to score, I have to be realistic," Ronaldo said. (dpa)