Ronaldinho

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For other people named Ronaldinho, see Ronaldinho (disambiguation).
Ronaldinho
File:Ronaldinho01.jpg
Personal information
Full name Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Barcelona
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 15, 2006

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March, 1980) is a footballer more commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho, due to his being from the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil, or simply Ronaldinho.

His name Ronaldinho (IPA - Brazil: [χonɑuˈdʒĩɲu], USA: /ɹonɑulˈdino/), Portuguese for "little Ronaldo", was originally devised as a means of distinguishing between himself and fellow Brazilian footballer 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 (both 2005).[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."[2]

History

Personal life

Ronaldinho was born on March 21, 1980 in Vila Nova, a poor suburb of Porto Alegre, Brazil. He was the youngest of three children. Ronaldinho's mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and amateur footballer for Cruzeiro. The family moved to a more affluent district of Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was 8, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator.[3][4] Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on 25 February, 2005. João's mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.[5]

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 a 23 goal flurry against a local team, at just 13 years of age.[2] His reputation as a footballer was built up through his childhood, particularly since he was a prolific goalscorer in the Egypt 1997 under-17 world championship. His stylish play at the tournament also caught the eye of many.

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

Professional career

Brazil

Ronaldinho was introduced into the Brazilian national team in 1999. He debuted for the national team on June 26, 1999 against Latvia. In his first tournament participation he scored against Venezuela in the 1999 Copa América, a game that the Brazilian team won.

Ronaldinho played a part in Brazil's successful 2002 campaign to win the World Cup. One of the highlights of the tournament was a 35-metre free kick he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka. He was sent off soon after for a foul on Danny Mills. Following the sending-off, he was suspended for the semifinal, but returned to Brazil's starting line-up for the 2-0 victory over Germany in the final.

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. Pelé named Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004.

The Grêmio years

Ronaldinho's career began in the youth team at Porto Alegre club Grêmio, under head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who would later coach the Brazilian national team to glory in the 2002 World Cup. His first senior appearance came in the 1998 Libertadores Cup,[6] 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, 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, including a reported astronomical bid from Leeds,[citation needed] and several requests from Grêmio, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, to which he moved at the beginning of the following season.

The Paris Saint-Germain years

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.[6]

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.[6] The club that ended up winning the battle for his services was FC Barcelona.

The Barcelona years

Ronaldinho with Deco

On July 19 2003, FC Barcelona acquired Ronaldinho for GBP 18 million.[6] 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.[7] Ronaldinho's signing with Barcelona follows in the footsteps of a number of illustrious fellow countrymen who enjoyed successful careers with the club, including Evaristo, Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Barcelona quickly showcased the talents of their new striker in an exhibition match against AC Milan. The match occurred in front of 45,000 people at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. Barcelona had a 1-0 lead through most of the first half, and they increased their lead to 2-0 when Ronaldinho scored in the 51st minute. Having received a short pass from Xavi, Ronaldinho fired a shot that spun around Fernando Redondo and into the net, landing him his first goal for the club.

Ronaldinho continued to justify his purchase by returning from injury in the first half of the campaign to lead Barcelona to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 2003/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Xavi Hernandez, Ludovic Giuly and Henrik Larsson, he comprises part of an awesome strike force which reaped the 2004/05 La Liga title for FC Barcelona. On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko. It was then that Barcelona rejected a £60 million bid for him by Chelsea, according to Sandro Rosell.[6]

In June 2005, Rosell resigned from the Barcelona administration following a bust-up with Joan Laporta, and it was feared that it would spell the eventual exit of Ronaldinho as well. His contract running only into 2008, Ronaldinho was offered a contract until 2014 that would net him £85 million,[7] which he rejected. He later signed a two-year extension of his original contract on September 1 2005 with FC Barcelona, with a minimum fee release clause that allows him to leave should a club make an offer to Barcelona of £85 million for him.[8]

On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing solo goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid faithful gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which had not occurred since Diego Maradona played for Barcelona in 1985.

In September 2005, Ronaldinho was crowned FifPro Player of the year, an award voted for by his fellow professionals. He was also named in the FifPro team of the year. In November 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/05. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the European Footballer of the Year Award. On December 19 2005, he was again named FIFA World Player of the Year with 956 points, more than three times the 306 points of Chelsea's Frank Lampard, who finished second in the poll, and the 190 points of Barça teammate Samuel Eto'o, third. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006. He received more votes than any other player in that team. Over 1.5 million people participated in that vote. Although Barcelona didn't qualified for the Champion League Final, Ronaldinho did score an impressive goal against Chelsea. With a Samba shake and soccer magician's skill, he drove the ball through at least 6 Chelsea defenders to Petr Cech's goal net.

On March 7, 2006, in the 2nd leg of the Champions League first knockout round at Nou Camp, Ronaldinho avenged Barcelona's defeat to Chelsea in the same competition the previous year, gliding past the Chelsea defence to score. Although the game ended 1-1, Barcelona progressed to the Champions League Quarterfinal. And in the semifinal first leg at AC Milan on April 18 2006, Ronaldinho once again proved his expertise with a superb pass for the goal scored by Ludovic Giuly, which brought Barcelona a 1-0 victory. The second leg game on April 26 ended in a goaless draw despite a 70th minute scare from Andriy Shevchenko, whose goal was disallowed. That result pushed Barcelona to a final against Arsenal F.C., who had not conceded a goal in ten Champions League matches.

On May 3, 2006, Barcelona were crowned 2005/2006 La Liga champions after they beat Celta Vigo 1-0.

On May 17, 2006, Barcelona became European Champions after defeating Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League final, the goals coming from Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti, who were both assisted by Henrik Larsson. Ronaldinho finished the season with 25 goals in all competitions, his best tally ever.

Business

  • In December 2005, Ronaldinho and Mauricio de Sousa, a famous Brazilian 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!
  • He has surpassed David Beckham as the most marketable player in the world, generating $57.8m (£30.8m) annually.[11]

Honours

Team

International

Individual

Preceded by FIFA World Player of the Year
2004, 2005 		Succeeded by
current holder
Preceded by
inaugural
 FIFPro World Player of the Year
2005 		Succeeded by
current holder
Preceded by European Footballer of the Year
2005 		Succeeded by
current holder

Notes

  1. ^ "Ronaldinho's juggling act". USA Today. 2006-04-18. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  2. ^ a b Mitten, Andy (January 2006). "The Master". FourFourTwo. pp. 72–74.
  3. ^ Webster, Justin (June 5, 2005). "Homage from Catalonia". Guardian. Retrieved 2006-05-20.
  4. ^ Wahl, Grant (June 1, 2006). "One-on-one with Ronaldinho". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2006-06-14.
  5. ^ "Ronaldinho Gaúcho fala sobre seu filho pela primeira vez". UOL Esporte. 2005-08-24. Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e Radnedge, Keir, "The priceless prince of Barcelona", World Soccer, January 2005, pp. 8-9
  7. ^ a b Lowe, Sid, "Friends and enemies", World Soccer, August 2005, pp. 18-21
  8. ^ "Ronaldinjo do 2010. u Barseloni". B92. 2005-09-02. Retrieved 2006-06-14. (in Serbian)
  9. ^ Pfanner, Eric (May 24, 2006). "World Cup stars for sale to top advertising agencies". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
  10. ^ "Freddy Adu and Omar Bravo Join Ronaldinho and Rooney as the Cover Athletes for FIFA 06" (Press release). Electronic Arts Australia. 19th August 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-11. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Brazilians rally behind cup favourites". BBC News. 25th May 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ronaldinho.

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