Background

Ronaldinho was born Ronaldo de Assis Moreira on March 21, 1980, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He was the youngest of three children in his family. As its name implies, the city, where the athlete was born, was a major port, and Ronaldinho's father, João de Assis Moreira, worked as a welder in a shipyard. His mother, Miguelina Elói Assis dos Santos, is a former salesperson who studied to become a nurse.

Education

Ronaldinho was immersed in soccer at an early age: his brother, Roberto, joined a professional league when Ronaldinho was still quite young, and their father, João, played for Cruzeiro E.C., one of the oldest clubs in Brazil.

Ronaldinho played street soccer at an early age and loved to dribble the ball for as long as possible. Kicking the ball around with his father, however, was a different game, for João forced him to play with only two touches of the ball each time.

In January of 1989, Ronaldinho lost his first coach. The family had recently moved to a new house with a swimming pool, a bonus for Roberto for extending his contract with Grêmio, one of Porta Alegre's two professional teams. The elder son returned from training for a family gathering to celebrate both his eighteenth birthday and his parents' anniversary, but came home to find his father had suffered a fatal heart attack while swimming. Ronaldinho was just eight years old and often credited his brother for stepping in to serve as a father-figure for him after their loss. Roberto's own athletic career would be cut short by injury.

At the age of 13, Ronaldinho became a local legend for scoring 23 goals in a single game, one that ended with a 23-0 tally. Four years later, he attracted international attention for two goals he scored in the 1997 Under-17 World Championships of FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and international soccer's governing body, as a member of Brazil's championship junior team.

Career

In 1998, Ronaldinho had followed his brother, Roberto, into the Grêmio lineup. Later that year he made his first appearance with the Brazilian national team in the Copa América, the contest that pits the national teams of ten South American countries against one another. He scored one of the seven goals in the final against Venezuela.

Europe's top soccer clubs often recruit South American players, offering them immense salaries. The house with the swimming pool, in fact, was Grêmio's bonus to Roberto to stay with the team instead of signing with Torino, an Italian team. Ronaldinho was also wooed by several leading clubs, including Arsenal F.C., a London team. He followed his brother's suggestion to sign first with a lesser club - in order to take some of the stress out of a transition to the European game - and joined Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in April of 2001. He spent three seasons with the French club and continued to appear with the Brazilian national team in international tournament play. During the 2002 World Cup, he was part of a formidable trio known as the "Three Rs" - Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and Rivaldo - who helped Brazil win the title that year, and his 30-yard kick that landed in the net during the quarterfinal against England was one of the event's highlights. Brazil beat Germany for the title that year, 2-0, but both of those goals were scored by one of the other Rs, Ronaldo.

In 2003, Ronaldinho announced he was ready to leave Paris Saint-Germain, and a heated bidding war for his professional commitment ensued. He was courted by two of the best teams in Europe, F.C. Barcelona and Manchester United, and signed with the Spanish team on July 19, 2003. His arrival in the soccer-mad city was a major event, with 25,000 fans turning out to welcome him. More commonly known as "Barça," FC Barcelona was the largest football club in the world, with some 100,000 devoted member-owners - known as socis - at the time. FC Barcelona's performance in recent years, however, had been lackluster, and the team had not won a major title since 1999, when they won the national title.

Ronaldinho's five-year contract with Barça was worth $25 million, and it was hoped that he would become a major media star for them. Previous to signing him, the team had attempted to lure Britain's David Beckham over from Manchester United, but Beckham stepped out of negotiations and instead signed with Real Madrid. Ronaldinho did not disappoint during his first season with the team, helping it to a second-place finish in La Liga, as the Spanish league is known; later that year he topped an annual FIFA poll of the sport's coaches and team captains, who voted him FIFA World Player of the year for 2004. During the 2004-2005 season, Barça won the national championship for the first time in six years, and Ronaldinho became a hero in the city as well as one of Spain's biggest celebrities.

The individual national victors from across Europe then go on to compete in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, sometimes known as the European Cup. In Ronaldinho's first appearance in the hotly contested battle for the European title, his team lost to Chelsea of England. In the 2005-2006 season, Barça successfully defended their La Liga title, and Ronaldinho came in first once again in the FIFA World Player rankings. In May of 2006, his team went on to win the European Cup, beating Arsenal 2-1, and he was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year for his outstanding season.

Ronaldinho rejoined the Brazilian national team for the 2006 World Cup series, but his performance disappointed soccer fans - he failed to score any goals and had just one assist. After Brazil lost to France in the quarterfinals, some of the more ardent devotees of the sport unleashed their anger at Brazil's loss by setting fire to a 23-foot-high statue of Ronaldinho, made out of resin and fiberglass, in the southern state of Santa Catarina. Back in Spain, he continued to astound, however, and during the first weeks of the 2006-2007 season, he scored his 50th La Liga goal in a game against Villarreal. Later during the same match, he executed an impressive overhead bicycle kick to score his 51st.

On February 3, 2008, Ronaldinho played his 200th career match for Barcelona in a league match against Osasuna. His 2007-2008 season was plagued by injuries, and a muscle tear in his right leg on April 3 prematurely ended his season.

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

In July 2008, Ronaldinho turned down a £25.5 million offer from Manchester City of the Premier League to join Italian Serie A giants A.C. Milan on a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for Milan in a 1-0 derby victory over rival Internazionale on September 28, 2008.

Ronaldinho finished the 2008-2009 season in Milan with 10 goals from 32 appearances in all competitions. He started his second season slowly but regained form afterward and ended the season top of the assist charts in the Serie A. Ronaldinho left Milan half-season in the 2010-2011 season after he scored a goal in 16 appearances. Milan won the Serie A.

Ronaldinho joined Flamengo on January 11, 2011 with a contract ending in 2014. He proved to be a very integral player in the Flamengo team as he helped the club win the Taça Guanabara, the Campeonato Carioca and the Taça Rio titles. Despite this success, about a year after his contract with Flamengo, he sued the club over unpaid 4 months salary.

Ronaldinho made a move to Atlético Mineiro on June 4, 2012 in a six-month contract. He made his debut for Galo on June 9, 2012, playing for 90 minutes in a 1-0 away win against Palmeiras, and scored his first goal for the club on June 23, 2012 against Náutico, from the penalty spot. In the 2012 season, the club finished second in the 2012 Brasileirão and qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores.

The following year, Ronaldinho helped Atlético win the Campeonato Mineiro. He led the club to its first Copa Libertadores title.

Ronaldinho renewed his contract with Atlético in January 2014. After winning the 2014 Recopa Sudamericana, Ronaldinho left the club.

He made his debut for Querétaro in a 1-0 loss to Tigres UANL where he missed a penalty kick. In his next match, he scored himself from a penalty kick in a 4-1 win.

On April 18, 2015, Ronaldinho scored twice against Liga MX title-holders América in an away game at the Estadio Azteca, in which his team won 4-0. All of the spectators gave a standing ovation to Ronaldinho after his goals had brought him to tears. In June 2015, Ronaldinho announced his departure from the club. The next month, he signed an 18 months deal with Brazilian club, Fluminense. But after failing to impress he terminated his contract with the club via mutual agreement.

In July 2016, Ronaldinho played for the Goa 5′s, a futsal team from Goa in India. After two games, he left India to be an ambassador of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

From September to October 2017, Ronaldinho joined the Delhi Dragons from Delhi in the Premier Futsal League. He scored 16 goals in eight games. On January 16, 2018, Ronaldinho confirmed his retirement from football.

Ronaldinho collaborated with many companies, including Nike, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, EA Sports, Gatorade and Danone.

On July 6, 2018, Ronaldinho announced a partnership with company World Soccer Coin (WSC) to develop a new cryptocurrency.

Achievements

• Ronaldinho is one of the world's most popular sportsmen. He is considered one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest of all time.
  
  Ronaldinho accumulated numerous individual awards in his career. He was included in the UEFA Team of the Year and the FIFA World XI three times, named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 2006 and the South American Footballer of the Year in 2013, and was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players compiled by Pelé.
  
  At the international level, Ronaldinho played 97 matches for the Brazil national team, scoring 33 goals. He was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. He led Brazil to their second FIFA Confederations Cup title in 2005 and was named Man of the Match in the final.
  
  Ronaldinho won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards (in 2004 and 2005) and a Ballon d'Or in 2005.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Kickboxer Retaliation

    (When MMA fighter Kurt Sloane is forced into an undergroun...)

    2018

Religion

Ronaldinho is Catholic, but whether or not he's a practicing Catholic seems to be up for debate. Some sources claim he is devout, and others not so much.

Politics

In 2018, Ronaldinho joined the Brazilian Republican Party. The same year, he endorsed presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential election.

Views

Since 2006, Ronaldinho has had an official role with UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. He was also recruited by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to promote awareness among young people of the disease and how to avoid it.

Ronaldinho regularly appears in Soccer Aid, an event that raises money for charity. He has taken part in the 'Match for Solidarity' on the banks of Lake Geneva in a game arranged "in the name of peace, human rights and well-being".

Quotations: "No matter who you are it's the simple things in life that lead you to believe that you can achieve anything."

"I learned all about life with a ball at my feet."

"God gives gifts to everyone, some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it."

"Our confidence comes from our preparation."

"Football is about joy. It's about dribbling. I favour every idea that makes the game beautiful. Every good idea has to last."

"I am ugly but what I do have is charm."

"It is not just about the money, it is about what you achieve on the pitch."

"I have the chance to do for a living what I like the most in life, and that's playing football. I can make people happy and enjoy myself at the same time."

"My game is based on improvisation. Often a forward does not have the time to think too much. You have a second, rarely more, to decide whether to dribble, shoot or pass to the right or left. It is an instinct that gives the orders."

"I am what I am thanks to my mother, my father, my brother, my sister... because they have given me everything. The education I have is thanks to them."

"If you're playing for five hours you don't want to score goals all the time and I loved dribbling. I could score a goal, but I preferred to dribble."

"Football is a great love because I was born into a family of players and therefore born into football. I'm fortunate to have a style of play that a lot of people like. It's a privilege to be able to do what I like best and in my own way, but I'm fortunate that people like it, and that motivates me even more."

"Paolo Maldini and John Terry are two of the toughest men I have met on the field."

"A lot of the moves I make originate from futsal. It's played in a very small space, and the ball control is different in futsal. And to this day my ball control is pretty similar to a futsal player's control."

"I helped Messi and I know he will do the same with Neymar."

"My heroes were always soccer players."

"Even from when Lionel Messi was very young I could see that he was a great player. A lot of people spoke about him, and then when I saw him myself for the first time I could see the amazing quality that he had. I didn't teach him anything - he had enough quality himself."

"The toughest opponents for me are the defenders who are tough in the way they play - where you can't see a way through."

"I would like my Dad to be alive so he could see what I am."

"I think each player has an individual style. Each is concerned with giving the best to his team, and I think my best talent is dribbling and setting up goal situations, giving an assist or deceiving one of the other team's players."

"I still have a video of my father, which I watch before every game I play for Brazil. It gives me strength, makes me determined."

"Henry is a beautiful player and has got a complete technique, I adore watching him. I respect him very much as a man and as a footballer. He reminds me of myself."

"I was at Barcelona for many years where I won a lot of things and achieved a lot of dreams. For these reasons it holds a special place in my life."

Personality

Ronaldinho is both humble and humorous. He is skillful by nature, his tricks are unparalleled and he is wonderful with the ball at his feet. He is one of the coolest players in pressure situations and a fast, brash, skillful, tricky, and uninhibited playmaker.

Ronaldinho has over 50 million Instagram followers.

His idols included the World Cup-winning stars - Rivelino, Diego Maradona, Romário, and his two international teammates Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Physical Characteristics: Ronaldinho is 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) tall and weighs 80 kg (176 pounds). He has hazel eyes and brown hair.

Quotes from others about the person

• Deco: "Ronaldinho was more talented than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. When we didn't know what to do, he would create chances to score."
  
  Celso Roth: "I've worked with some great players in my time and all at a very interesting period in their careers, nineteen to twenty years old. But, with due respect to the others, Ronaldinho was a cut above the rest."
  
  Kaka: "Ronaldinho is a champion. I hope he continues in this way because he is great, and you see that he has a great desire to do well."
  
  Lionel Messi: "Ronaldinho was responsible for the change in Barça. It was a bad time and the change that came about with his arrival was amazing. In the first year, he didn't win anything but people fell in love with him. Then the trophies started coming and he made all those people happy. Barça should always be grateful for everything he did."
  
  Laurent Blanc: "I played against him when he first came to Europe to play for Paris Saint Germain in 2001 and even then you could tell he would one day become the best player in the world. He has unbelievable skill and so many tricks in his repertoire."
  
  Ibrahimovic: "He is one of the strongest champions of all time."
  
  Henrik Larsson: "When I was at Barcelona, he was at the height of his career. Absolutely fantastic, the things he could do with the ball, and also the passing game he had was fantastic."
  
  Frank Lampard: "This man [Ronaldinho] was on a different level."
  
  Frank Rijkaard: "He is the man that makes the difference between a team that plays well and another that is really memorable. He alone can decide one game."
  
  Giovanni van Bronckhorst: "He knew exactly what he was doing. It was all pre-meditated although I have never seen him try it before, in training or matches. He thought what the wall would do and he pulled it off. It's amazing but that's what you get from the best player in the world."
  
  Wayne Rooney: "He is a world-class player. I hope he doesn't go to the World Cup with Brazil because he's unbelievable. He's so strong and quick still. He can do amazing things with the ball."
  
  Roberto Carlos: "Magic feet, but was not just about tricks - he created and scored the goals to match his ability."
  
  Eden Hazard: "I learned a lot from Ronaldinho and Robinho. Football is a tactical game and you sometimes have to be serious. But they taught me to always do it with a smile and have fun. I spent hours watching their clips on Youtube."
  
  David Beckham: "There was a period in Ronaldinho's time at Barcelona where he was almost unplayable. Effortless, relaxed, always with a smile on his face, he's a genius with the ball. I love Brazilian football and he is one of the best ever players from that country."

Interests

• karaoke, playing percussion instruments, surfing, movies

• Sport & Clubs

  soccer, basketball

• Athletes

  Rivelino, Diego Maradona, Romário

• Music & Bands

  Jorge Aragao, Pagode, Samba

Connections

Ronaldinho has a son, Joao, born to Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes.

Father:

João de Assis Moreira

(died 1988)

Mother:

Miguelina Elói Assis dos Santos

Son:

Joao Mendes

(born February 25, 2005)

Brother:

Roberto de Assis Moreira

(born January 10, 1971)

Roberto de Assis Moreira is a former footballer who is the brother, manager, agent and adviser of Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho. He is also the owner of Porto Alegre Futebol Clube.

Sister:

Deisi de Assis Moreira

Friend:

Lionel Messi

Friend:

Ricardo Kaká

(born April 22, 1982)

Ricardo Kaká is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

References

• Ronaldinho: Football's Flamboyant Maestro Ronaldinho's is a classic rags-to-riches tale of an outrageously talented boy from the Brazilian back streets who, despite his humble origins, conquered the soccer world.
  2006
• Ronaldinho's Instagram
• Ronaldinho's Facebook
• Ronaldinho's Twitter