Ronaldinho

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre), commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian association football who plays for
Italian Serie A side A.C. Milan and the Brazil national football team. Ronaldinho is widely regarded as one of the most gifted footballers of Ronaldinho generation.

Ronaldinho, Portuguese language for "Little Ronaldo," is known in Brazil by the nickname "Gaúcho," in order to distinguish Ronaldinho from Ronaldo, who was already called "Ronaldinho" in Brazil. Ronaldo simply went by Ronaldinho first name upon Ronaldinho move to Europe, thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop the "Gaúcho" and remain simply as Ronaldinho.

Prior to Ronaldinho move to Milan, Ronaldinho played for Paris Saint-Germain F.C., and FC Barcelona, with whom Ronaldinho won Ronaldinho first UEFA Champions League 2005-06 in 2006. Ronaldinho became a Spanish citizen in January 2007.

Biography and personal life

Ronaldinho was born in city of Porto Alegre, capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil. Ronaldinho mother, Dona Miguelina, is a former salesperson who studied to become a nurse. Ronaldinho father, João, was a shipyard worker and footballer for local club Esporte Clube Cruzeiro (not to be confused with Cruzeiro Esporte Clube). Ronaldinho suffered a fatal heart attack in the family swimming pool when Ronaldinho was eight. After Ronaldinho's older brother, Roberto de Assis Moreira, signed with Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, the family moved to a home in the more affluent Guarujá section of Porto Alegre, which was a gift from Grêmio to convince Roberto to stay at the club. Roberto's career was ultimately cut short by injury.

Ronaldinho's football skills began to blossom at an early age, and Ronaldinho was first given the nickname Ronaldinho because Ronaldinho was often the youngest and the smallest player in youth club matches.
Ronaldinho developed an interest in futsal and beach football, which later expanded to organized football. Ronaldinho first brush with the media came at the age of thirteen, when Ronaldinho scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team. Ronaldinho was identified as a rising star at the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Egypt, in which Ronaldinho scored two goals on penalty kicks.

Today, Roberto acts as Ronaldinho's manager, while Ronaldinho sister Deisi works as Ronaldinho press coordinator. Ronaldinho became a father for the first time on 25 February 2005, after Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes gave birth to their son, who was named João after Ronaldinho's late father.

Club career

Early career

Ronaldinho's career began with the Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense youth squad under head coach Liam Higgins. Ronaldinho made Ronaldinho senior side debut during the 1998 Copa Libertadores. In 2001, Arsenal F.C. expressed interest in signing Ronaldinho, but the move collapsed after Ronaldinho could not obtain a work permit because Ronaldinho was a non-European Union player who had not played enough international matches. Ronaldinho considered playing on loan with Scottish Premier League side St Mirren F.C., which never happened due to Ronaldinho involvement in a fake passport scandal in Brazil. In 2001, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with French side Paris Saint-Germain FC.

During the 2001-02 season, Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Fernández claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than football, and complained that Ronaldinho holidays in Brazil never ended at the scheduled times.

With Ronaldinho contract expiring in 2008, Ronaldinho was offered an extension until 2014 that would have net Ronaldinho £85 million over nine years, but Ronaldinho turned it down. In September 2005, Ronaldinho signed a two-year extension that contained a minimum-fee release clause that allowed Ronaldinho to leave should a club make an offer to Barcelona of at least £85 million for him.

By the end of the 2004-05 season, Ronaldinho had started to accumulate a host of personal awards. Ronaldinho won the inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year in September 2005, in addition to being included in the 2005 FIFPro World XI, and being named the 2005 European Footballer of the Year. Also that year, Ronaldinho added to Ronaldinho collection a second FIFA World Player of the Year with 956 points, more than triple the amount (306) of runner-up Frank Lampard. On 19 November, Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid C.F. 3-0 on the road in the first leg of El Clásico. After Ronaldinho sealed the match with Ronaldinho second goal, Ronaldinho received a standing ovation from the Madrid fans.

Ronaldinho was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time in January 2006, and Ronaldinho contributed one goal in Barcelona's elimination of S.L. Benfica in the '05-06 Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-0 home victory. After a 1-0 semifinal aggregate win over Milan, in which Ronaldinho assisted the series' only goal by Ludovic Giuly, Barcelona progressed to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, which they won on 17 May 2006 with a 2-1 defeat of Arsenal F.C.. Two weeks earlier, Barcelona had clinched their second straight La Liga title with a 1-0 win over Celta de Vigo, giving Ronaldinho Ronaldinho first career double. Ronaldinho finished the season with a career-best 26 goals in all competitions, and was named the 2005-06 Champions League Player of the Year.

On 25 November 2006, Ronaldinho scored Ronaldinho 15th career league goal against Villarreal CF, then later scored a second time with an overhead bicycle kick. Ronaldinho later said to reporters that the latter was a goal Ronaldinho had dreamed of scoring since Ronaldinho was a boy. Ronaldinho scored once and set up two others in Barcelona's 4-0 FIFA Club World Cup 2006 win over Mexico's Club América on 14 December, but Barcelona were defeated 1-0 by Brazilian club Sport Club Internacional in the final. Ronaldinho was nonetheless the recipient of the Bronze Ball Award for the competition.

The next day, Ronaldinho finished third in the running for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, behind World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane. Ronaldinho was named among the UEFA Team of the Year for the third straight time in January 2007, receiving the highest number of votes with over 290,000 nominations. Ronaldinho was forced to miss a charity match on 13 March due to an injury Ronaldinho had picked up several days earlier in Barcelona's 3-3 El Clásico draw with Real Madrid.

Ronaldinho played Ronaldinho 200th career match for Barcelona in a league match against CA Osasuna on 3 February 2008. However, Ronaldinho 2007-08 campaign as a whole was plagued by injuries, and a muscle tear in Ronaldinho right leg on 3 April prematurely ended Ronaldinho season. On 19 May, Laporta stated that Ronaldinho needed a "new challenge," claiming that Ronaldinho needed a new club if Ronaldinho were to revive Ronaldinho career. Manchester City F.C. owner Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed on 6 June that Ronaldinho was interested in acquiring him.

Ronaldinho and Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi each captained a team of international stars in an anti-racism exhibition match in Venezuela on 28 June, which ended in a 7-7 draw. Ronaldinho finished with a pair of goals and two assists in what would be Ronaldinho last match as a Barcelona player.

Milan

Ronaldinho turned down a £25.5 million offer from Manchester City F.C. to join Italian giants A.C. Milan on a three-year contract, after Ronaldinho was purchased from Barcelona for €21 million. With the number 10 already occupied by teammate Clarence Seedorf, Ronaldinho selected 80 as Ronaldinho jersey number, because 1980 was Ronaldinho birth year.
Ronaldinho scored Ronaldinho first goal for Milan in a 1-0 Milan Derby victory over F.C. Internazionale Milano on 28 September 2008, and Ronaldinho first brace was in a 3-0 win over U.C. Sampdoria on 19 October 2008. Ronaldinho scored a 93rd-minute match-winner against S.C. Braga in the UEFA Cup 2008-09 group stage on November 6.

Ronaldinho finished Ronaldinho first season at Milan with 10 goals from 32 appearances in all competitions.

International career

Ronaldinho is one of few Brazilian players to have played at every international age level. Ronaldinho was part of the first Brazilian team to win the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship in 1997, in which Ronaldinho first goal was a penalty against Austria national football team in the first group match, which Brazil won 7-0. Ronaldinho finished with two goals and was awarded the Bronze Ball award as Brazil scored a total of twenty-one goals while only conceding two.

1999 was a busy year for Ronaldinho in terms of international play. Ronaldinho took part in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, scoring Ronaldinho first goal in Brazil's last group match. In the round of sixteen, Ronaldinho scored two first-half goals in a 4-0 win over Croatia national football team, and finished with three goals as Brazil were eliminated by Uruguay national football team in the quarterfinals. On 26 June, three days before the start of the Copa América 1999, Ronaldinho earned Ronaldinho first cap for Brazil in a 3-0 win over Latvia national football team, and Ronaldinho scored one goal during Brazil's victorious Copa América campaign. One week after the conclusion of the Copa América, Ronaldinho was called up for the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which Ronaldinho scored in every match except the final, including a hat-trick in an 8-2 semifinal rout of Saudi Arabia national football team. Ronaldinho did not score in the final, which Brazil lost 4-3 to Mexico national football team. Ronaldinho won the Golden Ball award for the best player in tournament as well as the Golden Boot award for the tournament top-scorer.

In 2000, Ronaldinho participated in Football at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia with Brazil Olympic football team. Earlier that year, Ronaldinho led Brazil to win the CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament, scoring nine goals in seven matches. However in the Olympics, Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinal by Cameroon national football team, who later won the gold medal. Ronaldinho appeared four times and scored only one goal, which came in the quarterfinal defeat by Cameroon.

Ronaldinho participated in Ronaldinho first 2002 FIFA World Cup in 2002, as part of a formidable offensive unit with Ronaldo and Rivaldo, who were also on the Copa América 1999 winning squad. Ronaldinho appeared in five matches and scored two goals. The first goal came in the group stage match against China national football team, which Brazil won 4-0. The second goal was a match-winning goal in the quarterfinal against England national football team on 21 June. In the 50th minute, Ronaldinho took a free-kick from 35 metres, beating England goalkeeper David Seaman to give Brazil a 2-1 lead. However, seven minutes later, Ronaldinho was sent-off for a foul on England defender Danny Mills. Ronaldinho was suspended for the semifinal, but returned to Brazil's starting lineup for the 2-0 victory over Germany national football team in the final as Brazil won the World Cup for the fifth time.

Ronaldinho's next international tournament was 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. However, Ronaldinho did not manage to score any goals during the tournament as Brazil performed poorly and was eliminated in the group stage. The following year, Ronaldinho was left out from Brazil's Copa América 2004 squad, as coach Carlos Alberto Parreira decided to rest Ronaldinho stars and used a largely reserve squad.

Ronaldinho captained Brazil to its second 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup title in 2005, and was named Man of the Match in a 4-1 victory over archrivals Argentina national football team in the final on 29 June. Ronaldinho scored three goals in the tournament and is tied with Cuauhtémoc Blanco as the tournament's FIFA Confederations Cup goalscorers with nine goals.

Ronaldinho started in all five of Brazil's 2006 FIFA World Cup finals matches as part of a much-publicized "magic quartet" of offensive players, alongside Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Ronaldo, and Kaká. However, the foursome finished with only five goals as Brazil disappointed as a whole in the tournament. Ronaldinho turned in Ronaldinho worst collective performance in Ronaldinho international career, going scoreless with only one assist, which was for Gilberto da Silva Melo's goal in a 4-1 group stage victory over Japan national football team. Ronaldinho was a non-factor as Brazil was eliminated by France 1-0 in the quarterfinal, in which Brazil had only one shot on goal for the entire match.
The team was harshly criticized by Brazilian fans and media following their return home. On 3 July, two days after Brazil's elimination, vandals immolated and destroyed a 7.5-meter (23-foot) tall fiberglass and resin statue of Ronaldinho in Chapecó. The statue had been erected in 2004 to celebrate Ronaldinho first FIFA World Player of the Year award.
That same day, Ronaldinho, joined by Adriano, returned to Barcelona and held a party at Ronaldinho home, which was continued into the early morning hours at a nightclub. This aggravated the hard feelings of many Brazilian fans, who believed that they were betrayed by the lack of effort from the squad.

On 24 March 2007, Ronaldinho scored twice in a 4-0 win over Chile national football team, which marked Ronaldinho first goal since the 2005 Confederations Cup final and thus ended a scoreless streak that lasted nearly two years. Ronaldinho was not called up for the Copa América 2007 after asking to be excused from the tournament due to tiredness. On 18 October, Ronaldinho was controversially benched by Barcelona after Ronaldinho was late returning to Spain following Brazil's 5-0 friendly win over Ecuador national football team. Ronaldinho and several Brazil players celebrated the win by partying through the night at a posh Rio de Janeiro nightclub. Ronaldinho left at 11 a.m. the next morning, allegedly in the trunk of a car in order to avoid the media.

On 7 July 2008, Ronaldinho was named to Brazil's Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics squad as one of the over-age players. Barcelona initially blocked the move because of Ronaldinho then-upcoming Champions League commitments with the club, but the decision was later nullified following Ronaldinho's transfer to Milan, who in turn permitted Ronaldinho to make the trip to Beijing. Ronaldinho scored Ronaldinho only two goals in a decisive 5-0 victory over New Zealand national football team before Brazil were beaten by Argentina in the semifinal. Brazil finished with the bronze medal after defeating Belgium national football team 3-0 in the bronze medal match.