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| Birth Name(s) : Ronaldinho |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Athlete |
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Full Ronaldinho Biography
1 Senior club appearances and goalscounted for the domestic league only andcorrect as of June 18, 2007.2 National team caps and goals correctas of March 28, 2007.* Appearances (Goals)
Ronaldinho (IPA - ), meaning "little Ronaldo", is better known in Brazil by the nickname Ronaldinho Gaúcho, in order to distinguish him from Ronaldo (already called Ronaldinho in Brazil). However, upon Ronaldo's move to Europe, he began to be known simply as 'Ronaldo', thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop Gaúcho and remain simply as 'Ronaldinho'.
Ronaldinho was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Ronaldinho's mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and footballer for Cruzeiro. The family moved to a more affluent home in Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was eight, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. This house was given to Roberto Assis as a present from Gremio to convince him to stay at the club. At the time, Torino were interested in him. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator. Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on February 25, 2005. João's mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.
Towards the end of his career at Grêmio, in 2001, many clubs from all over the world, particularly Premiership teams in England such as Arsenal who tried but failed, were eager to sign him as an attempt to attain a player who was both a "big name" and was also performing well. Despite several generous bids from Premiership teams (who would not have been able to sign him due to work permit restrictions) and several requests from Grêmio (they offered £ 7000-a-week), Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC, to which he moved at the beginning of the following season.
In March 2005, Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea in the first knockout round. Ronaldinho scored a penalty kick and an impressive solo goal in the 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge. After the match, he was involved in a physical altercation with Chelsea stewards following allegations that the stewards had behaved in a racist and provocative manner. Neither team was punished by UEFA, who downplayed the incident as "a very minor scuffle" and lacked firm evidence about the alleged racism.
On November 19, 2005, Ronaldinho scored two solo goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid followers gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which had not occurred since Diego Maradona played for Barcelona in 1982.
In September 2005, Ronaldinho was crowned FIFPro World Player of the Year, an award voted for by his fellow professionals. He was also named in the FIFPro team of the year alongside the likes of Zidane and Maldini. In November 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the 2004-05 Champions League. In 2005, Ronaldinho became the third Brazilian to win the Ballon d'Or. 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, who finished second in the poll, and the 190 points of Barcelona team mate Samuel Eto'o who finished third. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006.
On December 17, 2006, at the same Yokohama Stadium, Ronaldinho's efforts were not enough to beat his ex-rival team, the Sport Club Internacional, from Brazil. Barcelona lost 1-0 in the final. Ronaldinho won the Bronze ball award for the tournament.
In January, 2007, Ronaldinho was named among the UEFA Team of the Year for the third time in a row, receiving the highest number of votes in almost 292,000 nominations.
Ronaldinho was both top player and scorer in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He scored in all of the games of the tournament including a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals to give Brazil a 8-2 win. Although Brazil lost to Mexico 4-3 in the final in which Ronaldinho did not participate due to injury.
Ronaldinho played a part in Brazil's successful 2002 campaign to win the World Cup, forming the famed "3 R's" with Ronaldo and Rivaldo. He scored two goals in the tournament. One of the highlights was an unconventional 30-yard free kick he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka. The ball lobbed over the English keeper David Seaman, who was out of position as he expected a pass into the penalty area, to make it 2-1 for Brazil. Soon after, he was sent off for a foul on Danny Mills. Following the sending-off, he was suspended for the semifinal, but returned to Brazil's starting line-up for the 2-0 victory over Germany in the final.Ronaldinho playing against Switzerland
On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad that won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, and was named Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over Argentina in the final. |
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