Ronaldinho Biography
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. His reputation as a footballer was upheld during most of his childhood, particularly due to the fact he was a prolific goal-scorer in the Egypt under-17 world championship. His stylish play at the tournament also caught the eye of many.
ChildhoodHe was introduced into the Brazilian national team in 1999. He debuted for the national team on June 26, 1999, and in his first appearance he scored the winning goal against Venezuela which helped the team win the Copa América.
Ronaldinho helped Brazil in their successful 2002 campaign to win the World Cup. One of the highlights of the tournament was an outrageous 35-metre free kick he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka, although he was sent off soon after for a foul on Danny Mills. Following the sending-off, he was suspended for the semi-finals, but returned to Brazil's starting line-up for the 2-0 final victory over Germany for the trophy.
On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad which won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, where he 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.
His career began, playing at the youth team of Grêmio, in the era of head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who would later become Brazilian national team coach. His first senior appearance came in the 1998 Libertadores Cup, and his penchant for goalscoring was quickly displayed; generating speculation and interest around his career 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 "big name" player, as well as a well performing player. Despite several generous bids from Premiership teams, including a reported astronomical bid from Leeds, and several requests from Grêmio, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, and started his contract at the beginning of the following season.
In 2001 Ronaldinho left Grêmio to play European football. Despite bids from much larger clubs, he opted to play for PSG. During his time at PSG, the manager, Luis Fernandez, claimed that Ronaldinho was too focussed on the Pariisan 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 World Cup, having shown his worth on the international scene, there was no shortage on the interest from bigger clubs, and in 2003, Ronaldinho made it known he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for any European competitions. That set off a bidding war among the top clubs for his services.
On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for £18 million. Originally Barcelona chairman Joan Laporta had promised to bring David Beckham to the club, but following his transfer to Real Madrid, Barcelona went into the running for Ronaldinho and beat Manchester United to his signature. It was thought that a failure between the English and French club over a fee was the reason behind the deal falling through for Manchester United. Ronaldinho is said to have signed with Barcelona instead of Manchester United because of his friendship with former Nike executive in Brazil, and then Barcelona vice-president in charge of sports, Sandro Rosell. Ronaldinho's signing for Barcelona was following in the footsteps of a number of illustrious fellow countrymen who had enjoyed successful careers with the club, including Evaristo, Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo.
Ronaldinho justified the purchase, leading Barcelona to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 2003/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Lionel Messi, 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, with Barcelona having rejected a £60 million bid for him by Chelsea, according to Sandro Rosell.
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 to 2008, Ronaldinho was offered a contract until 2014, netting him £85 million, which he rejected until he on September 1, 2005 signed a two-year extension of his original contract until 2010, with a clause of release, should a club pay Barcelona £85 million for him.
On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu 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 occurred last when Diego Maradona was in Barcelona.
In 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 and 190 points of Barça teammate Samuel Eto'o. 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.
Ronaldinho, on March 7, 2006 in the 2nd leg of the Champions League's round of 16 at Camp Nou, scored a spectacular goal against Chelsea, that effectively sealed Barçelona's place in the next round. He received the ball from Eto'o outside the box, dribbled past three defenders and edged past a fourth player, and hit the ball hard and low past goalkeeper Petr Cech.The next day, in a press conference, Ronaldinho expressed his happiness with Barcelona and bashed speculations for a possible transfer to Chelsea: "I'm very happy with Barça. I can't imagine being happier anywhere else but with Barça. There isn't enough money to buy my happiness. I see myself being here the rest of my life and I hope to keep on bringing joy to the Barça fans". Ronaldinho is considered the world's most coveted player in 2006, and a possible future transfer fee for him would probably top 50 million euros.
In December 2005, he and Mauricio de Sousa, a famous Brazilian comic book author, announced the creation of a comic character based upon Ronaldinho, his brother and his mother. Ronaldinho has a son named João, who was born in February 2005.