Ronaldinho

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre) is a Brazilian footballer, commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho (due to his being from the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil), or simply Ronaldinho. He became a naturalized Spanish citizen in January 2007.

Portuguese for "little Ronaldo", was originally devised as a means of distinguishing between himself and fellow Brazilian football star

Ronaldo, with the additional title Gaúcho being used when the current Ronaldo was also known as Ronaldinho. Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005), as well as the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award twice (2005, 2006).[1] He has downplayed suggestions that he is the best footballer in the world, telling FourFourTwo magazine, "I don't even
feel I'm the best at Barça."

Early life

Ronaldinho was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Ronaldinho's mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and footballer for Cruzeiro.

The family moved to a more affluent home in Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was eight, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. This house was given to Roberto Assis as a present from Gremio to convince him to stay at the club.

At the time, Torino were interested in him. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator. Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on February 25, 2005. João's mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.
Janaina Nattiella Viana Mendes

In his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team, at just 13 years of age.

His reputation as a footballer was built up through his childhood, particularly since he was identified as a rising star at the Egypt 1997 under-17 world championship. He scored two goals in the tournament, both penalty kicks.

Club career

Grêmio

Ronaldinho's career began in the youth team at Porto Alegre club Grêmio, under head coach Celso Roth, who only played him due to immense
pressure from the Gremio supporters. His first senior appearance came in the 1998 Libertadores Cup, and his penchant for goalscoring was quickly displayed, his career soon generating interest due to his
phenomenal ball control and ability to score. This was followed by his introduction into the Brazilian national team in 1999.

Towards the end of his career at Grêmio, in 2001, many clubs from all over the world, particularly Premiership teams in England such as Arsenal who tried but failed, were eager to sign him as an attempt to attain a player who was both a "big name" and was also performing well. Despite several generous bids from Premiership teams (who would not have been able to sign him due to work permit restrictions) and several requests from Grêmio (they offered £ 7000-a-week), Ronaldinho signed a
five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC, to which he moved at the beginning of the following season.

Paris Saint-Germain

In 2001 Ronaldinho left Grêmio to play European football. Despite bids from much larger clubs,[citation needed] he opted to play for PSG. During his time at PSG, the manager, Luis Fernandez, claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than on his
football, and complained that his holidays in Brazil would always drag on and never end at the scheduled times.

After the 2002 World Cup, having shown his worth on the international scene, there was no shortage of interest from bigger clubs. In 2003, Ronaldinho made it clear he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for any European competitions. Ronaldinho's desire to leave set off a bidding war among the top European clubs (Manchester United and FC Barcelona the notable examples) for his services. The club that ended up winning the battle for his services was FC Barcelona. Manchester United also wanted him, but he rejected it.

Barcelona

On July 19, 2003, FC Barcelona acquired Ronaldinho for £20 million.Originally, Barcelona chairman Joan Laporta had promised to bring David Beckham to the club, but following his transfer to Real Madrid,
Barcelona entered the running for Ronaldinho and beat Manchester United to his signature. It was thought that a failure on the part of the English and French clubs to agree on a fee was the reason Manchester United's deal fell through. Ronaldinho is also said to have signed with Barcelona instead of Manchester United because of his friendship with former Nike executive in Brazil and Barcelona's then vice-president in
charge of sports, Sandro Rosell.[9] Ronaldinho's signing with Barcelona follows in the footsteps of a number of illustrious fellow countrymenwho enjoyed successful careers with the club, including Romário,Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

International career

Ronaldinho is one of few players to play at every footballing level,for he has played at under 15, under 17, under 20, under 23, and senior level. He made his first ever appearance for Brazil playing against Scotland on the 7th of March 1995 in an under 15s match, Brazil lost the game 1-0.

Under 17 championship Egypt 1997

Ronaldinho was part of the first ever Brazilian team to win the Under 17s championship. His first goal was scored from a penalty against Austria in the first group match, which Brazil won 7-0, and eventually went on to finish top of their group. In the quarter-finals Brazil beat Argentina 2-0, in which Ronaldinho was named the Man of the match after setting up his teammate Fabio Pinto and creating numerous scoring chances. In the semi-finals Brazil had there first game against a
European team, they had to play Germany, Brazil won the match 4-0 and Ronaldinho scored the fourth goal with a penalty. In the final Brazil had to play reigning champions Ghana, the game went 1-0 up for Ghana just before the half time break, only for Brazil to win the game 2-1with the second goal being scored in the 87th minute. During the six matches of the tournament Brazil conceded only 2 goals and scored 21.

Ronaldinho was named one of the best players of the tournament,receiving the Bronze Ball award. After the under 17's championship, he debuted for the Brazilian national team on June 26, 1999 against Latvia in a game which Brazil won 3-0.

Copa America 1999

Ronaldinho first tournament participation with the Brazilian national team came in when he was included in the Brazilian squad that won the

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup

Ronaldinho was both top player and scorer in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He scored in all of the games of the tournament including a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals to give
Brazil a 8-2 win.

2002 World Cup

Ronaldinho played a part in Brazil's successful 2002 campaign to win the World Cup, forming the famed "3 R's" with Ronaldo and Rivaldo. He scored two goals in the tournament. One of the highlights was an unconventional 30-yard free kick he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka. The ball lobbed over the English keeper David Seaman, who was out of position as he expected a pass into the penalty area, to make the score line 2-1 for Brazil.

2005 Confederations Cup

On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad that won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, and was named Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over Argentina in the final.

2006 World Cup

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldinho was a starting player for all of Brazil's five matches, but his performances were considered disappointing by both fans and commentators. He scored no goals and
made only one assist (for Gilberto's goal in a 4-1 victory over Japan). When Brazil were eliminated by France 1-0 in the quarterfinal, he failed to make an impression.

Immediately after the World Cup disappointment, the team was criticized by many Brazilians, and vandals immolated and destroyed a 7.5-meter (23-foot) tall fiberglass and resin statue of Ronaldinho in the Brazilian city of Chapecó.The statue had been erected in 2004 to celebrate his first election as FIFA World Player of the Year.

Two days after the loss, Ronaldinho, joined by Adriano, returned to Barcelona and held a party at his home, which was continued into the early morning hours at a nightclub. This increased the feeling of Brazilian fans that they were betrayed by the lack of effort from their national team.This reaction contrasted with other players such as Rogerio Ceni, who was ashamed of the game and said but we lost in "somedefeats are marked by struggle, an infelicitous way, that wasn't what we had
hoped for"and Zé Roberto, who cried and said that i"the unity that we had outside the pitch, lackednside it".

Business and trivia

• He is a fan of Brazilian music, and occasionally plays the drumsand sings with friends in Barcelona.
  

• In December 2005, Ronaldinho and Mauricio de Sousa, a famousBrazilian comic book author, announced the creation of cartoon characters based on Ronaldinho, his brother and his mother. In the UK,the comic is published exclusively in children's football magazine,KiCK!, while in Spain it is being published by Panini Comics and in Greece by Compupress.
  

• Ronaldinho appears in advertising campaigns for international companies Nike, Pepsi, ASPIRE, and Lenovo, as well as at least eight brands in Brazil, including Kibon.
  

• Ronaldinho appears on the front cover of Electronic Arts games FIFA Soccer 06, FIFA 07 along with Wayne Rooney. He was also on the front cover of FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup on the Xbox 360.
  

• He has surpassed David Beckham as the most marketable player in the world, generating $57.8m (£30.8m) annually, though still trails Beckham in estimated yearly income.
  

• After playing a friendly match in Stockholm, Ronaldinho received a trophy rating him as the best Brazilian Player in history, according to a survey by Swedish television.
  

• Ronaldinho played in the largest friendly soccer match hosted in the United States when his Barcelona team played Chivas Guadalajara at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
  

• Ronaldinho newly presented his new series of clothing; R10. He has created different clothing and a new boot.
  

• Ronaldinho shares his birthday with a fellow heroic Brazilian,the late Ayrton Senna
  

• He has endorsements with PepsiCo, Unilever, Nike, Grupo Santander and American Express.
  

• He broke a window in the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in 2004 while filming a commercial.
  

• He has been voted into the all-time favourite Gremio team in a survey conducted by the brazilian Placar magazine at the end of 2006.