Ronaldinho

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre), commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Italian Serie A club A.C. Milan and the Brazil national team.

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

He has played for Paris Saint-Germain, and FC Barcelona, with whom he won his first Champions League in 2006. He became a Spanish citizen in January 2007.

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born in Brazil. His mother, Miguelina, is a former babysitter who studied to become a nurse. His father, João, was a shipyard worker and footballer for local club Esporte Clube Cruzeiro (not to be confused with Cruzeiro EC), and suffered a fatal heart attack when Ronaldo was eight. After Ronaldo’s older brother, Roberto, signed with Grêmio, the family moved to a more affluent home in 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.

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

Ronaldinho’s career began with the Grêmio youth squad under head coach Celso Roth, who only played him due to immense pressure from team supporters. He made his senior side debut during the 1998 Copa Libertadores. In 2001, Arsenal F.C. expressed interest in signing Ronaldinho, but the move collapsed after he could not obtain a work permit, because he was a non-EU player who had not played enough international matches. He considered playing on loan with Scottish Premier League side St Mirren F.C., which never happened due to his involvement in a fake passport scandal in Brazil. Ronaldinho ultimately signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC.

During the 2001-02 season, PSG manager Luis Fernandez claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than football, and complained that his holidays in Brazil never ended at the scheduled times. In 2003, less than two years into his PSG stint, Ronaldinho made it clear he wanted to leave after PSG failed to qualify for any European competition.

Ronaldinho turned down a £25.5 million offer from Manchester City to join Italian giants A.C. Milan on a three-year contract, after he was purchased from Barcelona for €21 million.With the number 10 already occupied by teammate Clarence Seedorf, he selected 80 as his jersey number, because 1980 was his birth year. Ronaldinho scored his first goal for Milan in a 1-0 derby victory over Internazionale on September 28, 2008, and his first brace was in a 3-0 win over Sampdoria on October 19, 2008. He scored a 93rd-minute match-winner against Sporting Braga in the UEFA Cup group stage on November 6. His subsequent spectacular goal in the UEFA Cup against Portsmouth helped Milan to a 2-2 draw, having been 2-0 down at the time.