Ronaldinho (Ronaldo de Assis Moreira) was born on March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil and would rise to be one of soccer's greatest. The five-foot eleven, one-hundred seventy-seven pound forward would wow audiences with his mastery as early as 1999, beginning amateur play following in his father Joao's footsteps, becoming skilled in beach and indoor (futbal) soccer.
Ronaldinho was raised by his mother, Miguelina, and his brother and sisters after his father died when the boy was only eight years old. Ronaldinho earned his first cap with Brazilian club Gremio's senior team led by coach Celso Roth in 1999. Two years later, Arsenal FC began heavily recruiting Ronaldinho, but his inability to obtain a work permit thwarted this draft. Ronaldinho went on to sign a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC. Unfortunately, he seemed overwhelmed by his new success at his young age and was often said to pay more attention to the Parisian nightlife than to soccer practice. An unhappy Ronaldinho returned to Barcelona in 2004.
Major success came to Ronaldinho at the Copa America held in Paraguay where he mesmerized audiences playing alongside teammates Ronald and Rivaldo scoring Brazil's fifth goal in a 7-0 wipeout of Venezuela. Now known as the "wonder goal," in 2002 during the FIFA World Cup in Japan, Ronaldinho scored the game-winning goal through an amazing 30-yard free kick that surprised the English's unaware goalkeeper, David Seaman. His team would win this quarterfinal and go on to win the World Cup where Ronaldinho achieved soccer greatness by being named to the all-tournament team.
Soccer's greatest prizes seem magnetized to Ronaldinho. He was won: the FIFA World Player of the Year (2004 and 2005); the UEFA's Champion League Award (2006, a years when he put in seven goals in only12 matches) in Barcelona; and numerous others. "Sports Illustrated" magazine declared that Ronaldinho was the athlete with the fifth highest income in the world for 2008; his earnings of $37.5 million included his salary and bonuses on top of product endorsements and pay for making live appearances. The 28-year-old was now in the company of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Beckham, and Kimi Raikkonen.
Early summer of 2008 saw Ronaldinho injure a muscle in his right leg while playing in his 200th match. Much to the dismay of spectators and fans around the world, he would be benched for the remainder of the season. But not ending there, Ronaldinho's troubles looked worse when he and his club argued about his decision to play in the Bejing Olympic games. But after the dust had settled, Ronaldinho sealed a deal with the Italian Club AC Milan. This allowed him to play in the Olympics beside his countrymen.
Manchester City offered Ronaldinho a contract for over $25 million to play for them at a time when he was getting paid $21 million in Barcelona; however, he turned down this offer but instead when with AC Milan on a three-year deal. However, he gave up his #10 because it had been retired for Italian AC Milan player Clarence Seedorf. He replaced it with #80 for the year of his birth. Milan quickly saw the wisdom of their new player selection when Ronaldinho scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Internazionale in September of 2008.
As the 2008 soccer season continued, Ronaldinho pushed Milan to a 2-2 draw (they were 2-0 at the time) by scoring a 93rd minute match-winner against Sporting Braga in the UEFA Cup in November. His brother Roberto has been quite the force as Ronaldinho's agent fetching him more and more endorsements that will continue until the year 2014. Residing in Milan, Italy, Ronaldinho seems happy these days.
Becoming a father in 2005 with the birth of his son Joao, named after his father and mother of Brazilian dancer Janaina Mendes, Ronaldinho's soccer fate seems to be set in stone-what team he will remain on may be known only to Ronaldinho and Roberto. With fans of soccer everywhere shouting his name and cheering him on, we bet Ronaldinho will be a best bet for any team and some may dream, "what about the US?
Ronaldinho was raised by his mother, Miguelina, and his brother and sisters after his father died when the boy was only eight years old. Ronaldinho earned his first cap with Brazilian club Gremio's senior team led by coach Celso Roth in 1999. Two years later, Arsenal FC began heavily recruiting Ronaldinho, but his inability to obtain a work permit thwarted this draft. Ronaldinho went on to sign a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC. Unfortunately, he seemed overwhelmed by his new success at his young age and was often said to pay more attention to the Parisian nightlife than to soccer practice. An unhappy Ronaldinho returned to Barcelona in 2004.
Major success came to Ronaldinho at the Copa America held in Paraguay where he mesmerized audiences playing alongside teammates Ronald and Rivaldo scoring Brazil's fifth goal in a 7-0 wipeout of Venezuela. Now known as the "wonder goal," in 2002 during the FIFA World Cup in Japan, Ronaldinho scored the game-winning goal through an amazing 30-yard free kick that surprised the English's unaware goalkeeper, David Seaman. His team would win this quarterfinal and go on to win the World Cup where Ronaldinho achieved soccer greatness by being named to the all-tournament team.
Soccer's greatest prizes seem magnetized to Ronaldinho. He was won: the FIFA World Player of the Year (2004 and 2005); the UEFA's Champion League Award (2006, a years when he put in seven goals in only12 matches) in Barcelona; and numerous others. "Sports Illustrated" magazine declared that Ronaldinho was the athlete with the fifth highest income in the world for 2008; his earnings of $37.5 million included his salary and bonuses on top of product endorsements and pay for making live appearances. The 28-year-old was now in the company of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Beckham, and Kimi Raikkonen.
Early summer of 2008 saw Ronaldinho injure a muscle in his right leg while playing in his 200th match. Much to the dismay of spectators and fans around the world, he would be benched for the remainder of the season. But not ending there, Ronaldinho's troubles looked worse when he and his club argued about his decision to play in the Bejing Olympic games. But after the dust had settled, Ronaldinho sealed a deal with the Italian Club AC Milan. This allowed him to play in the Olympics beside his countrymen.
Manchester City offered Ronaldinho a contract for over $25 million to play for them at a time when he was getting paid $21 million in Barcelona; however, he turned down this offer but instead when with AC Milan on a three-year deal. However, he gave up his #10 because it had been retired for Italian AC Milan player Clarence Seedorf. He replaced it with #80 for the year of his birth. Milan quickly saw the wisdom of their new player selection when Ronaldinho scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Internazionale in September of 2008.
As the 2008 soccer season continued, Ronaldinho pushed Milan to a 2-2 draw (they were 2-0 at the time) by scoring a 93rd minute match-winner against Sporting Braga in the UEFA Cup in November. His brother Roberto has been quite the force as Ronaldinho's agent fetching him more and more endorsements that will continue until the year 2014. Residing in Milan, Italy, Ronaldinho seems happy these days.
Becoming a father in 2005 with the birth of his son Joao, named after his father and mother of Brazilian dancer Janaina Mendes, Ronaldinho's soccer fate seems to be set in stone-what team he will remain on may be known only to Ronaldinho and Roberto. With fans of soccer everywhere shouting his name and cheering him on, we bet Ronaldinho will be a best bet for any team and some may dream, "what about the US?
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