Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho

If you think of soccer tricks, Ronaldinho is one the first names that comes up in your mind. He is the typical Brazilian street soccer player, but better. Ronaldinho seems to have total control over the ball and he makes it look so easy. But how did he come so far? Well, here is his life story.

Ronaldinho's youth

Ronaldinho Gaúcho was born on 21st March 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He was born in a family of soccer addicts. Ronaldinho and his family lived in a wooden house in a favela. His father, João de Silva Moreira, played for Esporte Clube Cruzeiro, a local soccer club. To get by, he worked as a car park attendant at FC Gremio. João also worked in a local shipyard.
Ronaldinho's sister, Deisi, works as his press coordinator. His older brother, Roberto, now works as his manager.

Roberto showed a lot of soccer talent at a young age as well. When he signed a contract at FC Grêmio, he and his family moved into a villa in the more sophisticated and developed part of Porto Alegre, Guarujá. Life was good for Ronaldinho and his family. But when Ronaldinho was eight, his father suffered a fatal heart attack in the villa's swimming pool. To make things even worse, Roberto had to stop his soccer career after a bad knee injury.

Ronaldinho developed a special interest in futsal and beach soccer, this is probably where he developed his excelling technique. At this time, he got his nickname 'Ronaldinho', which means 'little Ronaldo'. The reason behind this name is the fact that he was almost always the youngest and smallest player on the field.

Ronaldinho's first breakthrough

Ronaldinho really started to make a name for himself at the age of 13 when he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team.
Ronaldinho was signed by FC Grêmio to play in their youth squad. He was considered a wonder child from the age of 17. He played for the Brazilian U-17 squad at the U-17 WC in Egypt in 1997. He scored his first goal from a penalty in the 7-0 victory against Austria. He scored a total of 2 penalties at that tournament. Ronaldinho won the Bronze Ball at this tournament.
Ronaldinho's coach in the youth squad of FC Grêmio was Liam Higgins. He debuted in Grêmio's senior squad in 1998 in the Copa Libertadores.
From that point, Ronaldinho's career went fast. In 1999, he played a lot of international matches. He was part of the Brazilian Youth Squad in the FIFA World Youth Championship. There, he scored his first goal in the group stage. He then scored twice against Croatia in the 1/16 final. Brazil was eliminated by Uruguay in the quarterfinals.
On 26 June 1999, Ronaldinho earned his first cap for Brazil in a 3-0 win over Latvia. Three days later, he took part in Brazil's successful Copa América campaign. After the Copa América, Ronaldinho played in the Confederations Cup. He scored in every match but he missed the final against Mexico due to an injury. Brazil lost that match 4-3.

Moving to Europe

In 2001, Arsenal showed interest in Ronaldinho. They were close to signing him, but the transfer was cancelled when Ronaldinho wasn't able to obtain a work permit due to a lack of caps. To gain some international experience, Ronaldinho wanted to play on loan at Scottish St. Mirren. This move was also cancelled because Ronaldinho was involved in a fake passport scandal in Brazil just recently. But in the end, he did get his transfer to Europe when he signed a 5-year deal at Paris Saint-Germain. Ronaldinho participated in the World Cup in 2002. He formed a magnificent trio with Rivaldo and Ronaldo. Ronaldinho scored twice. Due to a suspension, he had to miss the semifinal. He did play in the final which Brazil won in a 2-0 victory over Germany.

Back in France, PSG's coach, Luis Fernández, claimed that Ronaldinho was more into the city's nightlife than into soccer. Nevertheless, Ronaldinho dreamt of playing in the Champions League or the UEFA Cup. When PSG failed to qualify for either tournament in 2003, Ronaldinho decided it was time to leave PSG.

                      

Ronaldinho's move to Barcelona and his final breakthrough

In 2003, Ronaldinho moved to Barcelona. Barca was initially trying to sign David Beckham but when Beckham moved to Real Madrid, Barca's president, Joan Laporta, outbid Manchester United and brought Ronaldinho in.
Ronaldinho suffered from various injuries during his first half year at Barcelona. When Ronaldinho returned, he helped Barca to the second place in the Primera Division. Ronaldinho won his first league title at Barca during the season of 2004-2005. He was also named FIFA World Player of the Year in December 2004 and he was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year.
Ronaldinho became a father on 25 February 2005. The mother of his son is the Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes. Their son is named João after Ronaldinho father.

In 2005, Ronaldinho was chosen over Frank Lampard and Samuel Eto'o for another title of FIFA World Player of the Year. He also received a place in the UEFA Team of the Year for the second consecutive time. To honor Ronaldinho, he got a 23-foot tall statue in Chapecá, Brazil. Later that year, Barca was eliminated in the Champions League by Chelsea in the first knockout round after a 4-2 loss. Ronaldinho scored both goals for Barcelona. Brazil won another Confederations Cup in which Ronaldinho played as Brazil's captain. Ronaldinho was named Man of the Match in a 4-1 victory over Argentina. Since that tournament, he shares the title of all-time scorer in the Confederations Cup with Cuauht'moc Blanco of Mexico. Both scored 9 goals.

Barca offered to extend Ronaldinho's contract until 2014. This deal would earn him €85 million in 9 years but Ronaldinho turned this deal down. In September 2005, he agreed on a 2-year extension with a minimum-fee release clause of €85 million.
After scoring two of the three goals in El Clásico in 2005 against Real Madrid, Ronaldinho received a standing ovation from both Barca's and Real's fans.

In 2006, Ronaldinho was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time. In the same season, he contributed to defeating Benfica and AC Milan in the Champions League Quarter Final and Semi Final. On 17 May 2006, Barcelona defeated Arsenal with a 2-1 win in the Champions League Final. Barca also won their second consecutive title. Ronaldinho scored 26 goals in all competitions during the season of 2005-2006. He was also named Champions League Player of the Year.

Ronaldinho, Kaká, Ronaldo and Adriano formed the most feared attack at the 2006 World Cup. In the end, they were very disappointing. They only scored 5 goals, Ronaldinho only gave 1 assist. Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinal against France after a 1-0 loss.

Injuries, critics and Ronaldinho's breakdown

After their elimination, Ronaldinho and the rest of the Brazilian squad were heavily criticized by the media and the fans. Ronaldinho's statue in Chapecá was destroyed by unsatisfied fans. Later that day, Ronaldinho and Adriano returned to Ronaldinho's house in Barcelona to play poker and have a party. They were spotted in a nightclub that same night, which caused the fans to accuse Ronaldinho of a lack of effort.
In the season of 2006-2007, Ronaldinho scored the 50th goal in his career. Barca finished second in the World Cup for Clubs after losing 1-0 to Internacional. Ronaldinho did score a goal and gave two assists in the 4-0 win over Club América. Ronaldinho also won the Bronze Ball Award.
Ronaldinho has only capped 3 times in 6 months under head coach Dunga. In 2007, he scored twice in the 4-0 victory over Chile. These were his first goals for Brazil since the 2005 Confederations Cup.
Brazil won the 2007 Copa América but Ronaldinho wasn't called up to participate. Later that year, Ronaldinho returned too late in Barcelona after a friendly match between Brazil and Ecuador. Ronaldinho and several other Brazilian internationals celebrated their win in Rio de Janeiro. To punish him, Barcelona put him on the bench for the next match.

Ronaldinho also finished 3rd in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year, behind Fabio Cannavaro and Zinédine Zidane. Ronaldinho also won a place in the UEFA Team of the Year for the 3rd consecutive time in 2007. In March, Ronaldinho suffered from an injury in the 3-3 draw against Real Madrid. Ronaldinho played his 200th match for Barcelona against Osasuna in 2008. Another injury ended what would be his last season at Barca.

In 2008, Ronaldinho was called up for Brazil's squad at the Summer Olympics 2008. Barcelona blocked this move because they were still competing in the Champions League. When Ronaldinho moved to AC Milan, he still got to play in Beijing as his new employer did accept the move. Ronaldinho scored 2 goals in a 5-0 win over New Zealand. Brazil finished 3rd and won a bronze medal.
Ronaldinho played a very disappointing season after his excellent seasons at Barcelona. Critics and tabloids were after him. The fans expected him to play like he did during the last two seasons but Ronaldinho just couldn't reach that level anymore.

Ronaldinho's move to AC Milan

During the transfer period, Manchester City showed concrete interest in Ronaldinho. The deal was of after Ronaldinho rejected a €25.5 million deal. Ronaldinho eventually moved to AC Milan for €21 million. He scored his first goal for Milan against rivals Internazionale in a 1-0 victory on 28 September 2008. He also scored the winning goal against Braga in the UEFA Cup group stage. Ronaldinho still hasn't found the form he had during the period between 2004 and 2006. Many people argue on why this is. Some say it's because of his injuries, others say he isn't focused on his career and loves partying more than playing top soccer.

But no matter what the reason is, Ronaldinho has proven himself. People from all over the world would come to Barcelona just to see him play. Kids scraped together their allowance to buy a Ronaldinho-shirt. Despite what all the critics say, the chances are small we will see another player like Ronaldinho in the next 10 years.

Ronaldinho's Gallery

1997     FIFA U-17 World Cup (Brazil U-17)
1998     -
1999     Confederations Cup Golden Ball (individual)
             Confederations Cup Top Scorer (individual)
             Copa América (Brazil)
             State Champion Top Scorer (individual)
2000     -
2001     -
2002     World Cup (Brazil)
             World Cup All-Star Team (individual)
2003     -
2004     EFE Trophy / Best Ibero-American Player in La Liga (individual)
             UEFA Team of the Year (individual)
             World Player of the Year (individual)
2005     Confederations Cup (Brazil)
             European Footballer of the Year (individual)
             FIFA World Player of the Year (individual)
             FIFPro World Player of the Year (individual)
             FIFPro World XI (individual)
             La Liga (Barcelona)
             UEFA Best Club Forward (individual)
             UEFA Club Football of the Year (individual)
             UEFA Team of the Year (individual)
             Supercopa de España (Barcelona)
2006     Champions League (Barcelona)
             FIFPro World Player of the Year (individual)
             FIFPro World XI (individual)
             La Liga (Barcelona)
             Supercopa de España (Barcelona)
             UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (individual)
             UEFA Team of the Year (individual)
2007     FIFPro World XI (individual)
2008     Bronze medal at the Summer Olympics (Brazil)