| FULL NAME | Ronaldo de Assis Moreira |
| BORN | March 21, 1980 |
| HEIGHT | 5 ft 11 in (1.81 m) |
| NATIONALITY | Brazil |
| ROLE | Attacking midfielder / Forward |
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira is a former professional footballer from Brazil who is now an ambassador for the Spanish club FC Barcelona.
He was born on March 21, 1980, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He was primarily used as an offensive midfielder, but he could also play as a winger or a forward.
His brother was a member of Grêmio, a Brazilian professional football team headquartered in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul.
Background
Ronaldo’s football abilities began to blossom at the age of eight, and he was given the moniker “Ronaldinho” simply because he was frequently the youngest player in youth club matches.
His first big break came at the age of 13, when he scored all 23 goals in a 23–0 win over a local side.
Debut
Ronaldinho has represented Brazil at every age level and was named an emerging star during the 1997 U-17 World Championship in Egypt. He scored two penalty kick goals.
At 1999, he made his debut in the South American Youth Championship, scoring three goals to assist the U20s finish third.
The next year, he competed in the FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, scoring his first goal in Brazil’s last group encounter. He scored two goals in the first half of a 4–0 triumph over Croatia in the round of 16.
Ascend to Glory
On the 26th of June, three days before the commencement of the 1999 Copa América, he got his first cap for Brazil in a 3–0 win over Latvia, and he also scored one goal during Brazil’s Copa América triumph.
He scored in every match save the final of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, including a hat-trick in an 8–2 semi-final win over Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldinho received both the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot awards for being the tournament’s best player and top scorer.
In 2000, Ronaldinho was a member of the U23 squad that competed in the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In the same year, Ronaldinho was instrumental in Brazil’s Pre-Olympic Tournament victory, scoring nine goals in seven games.
His first goal came in a group stage encounter against China PR, which Brazil won 4–0. The quarter-final match versus England in the World Cup 2002 was held on June 21, 2002, and it was the most significant match in Ronaldinho’s World Cup history.
In the 2003 Confederations Cup, he failed to score a goal, and Brazil was eliminated in the group stage.
Ronaldinho scored twice in a 4–0 triumph over Chile for the 2008 Olympic gold on March 24, 2007.
Captaincy
Ronaldinho was the captain of Brazil’s national football team when it won its second Confederations Cup in 2005.
He scored a penalty kick in a 3–2 semi-final triumph against host Germany, and he was voted Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over archrival Argentina in the final on June 29th. On April 24, 2013, he was named captain of the Brazil national football team for an international friendly against Chile.
Negative aspects
He went scoreless for over two years after the 2005 Confederations Cup final, until he won an Olympic gold in 2008. Brazil, on the other hand, were ousted in the quarter-finals, despite the fact that Ronaldinho participated in all four matches and scored only one goal.
Ronaldinho was anticipated to perform admirably in the 2006 World Cup finals. Ronaldinho, on the other hand, went scoreless and finished with only one assist, putting together his poorest collective effort in his whole international career. Brazil had a poor campaign, culminating in a 1–0 loss to France in the quarterfinals.
Club Professionalism
Ronaldinho began his career with the Grêmio youth team. In the 1998 Copa Libertadores, he made his senior team debut. Ronaldinho made his debut in 1999, scoring 23 goals in 48 games.
In the final of the Rio Grande do Sul State Championship, he was brutal on Internacional. Ronaldinho was instrumental in Grêmio winning the first Copa Sul-Minas.
Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with French club Paris Saint-Germain in 2001 for €5 million.
Ronaldinho made his league debut for the club on August 4, 2001, coming in as a substitute in a 1–1 tie with Auxerre. Ronaldinho also performed admirably in the 2001–02 Coupe de la Ligue.
Ronaldinho scored twice in the second half of a Round of 16 encounter against Guingamp. On October 26, 2002, he scored two of PSG’s three goals in a 2-0 victory against rivals Marseille. He scored again in PSG’s 3–0 victory in the rematch. In the Coupe de France, he scored both goals in the club’s 2–0 semi-final triumph against Bordeaux.
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta had entered the race for Ronaldinho, outbidding Manchester United in a €30 million agreement.
Ronaldinho made his first team debut in a friendly match against Milan at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., scoring one of the goals.
He scored his debut La Liga goal against Sevilla on September 3, 2003. During the 2003–04 season, Ronaldinho scored 15 goals in La Liga, helping his club finish second in the league.
Ronaldinho was voted FIFA World Player of the Year on December 20, 2004. On March 8, 2005, Barcelona was eliminated from further contention by Chelsea in the first knockout round. Ronaldinho scored both goals in the second leg, which ended 4–2.
On November 19th, Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 3–0 in the opening leg of El Clásico.
The season was the greatest of Ronaldinho’s career, with him playing a key role in Barcelona winning the Champions League for the first time in 14 years.
Ronaldinho finished the season with 26 goals, seven of which came in the Champions League. As a result, he was named to the UEFA Team of the Year for the third time in a row in 2005–06, as well as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.
On November 25, 2006, Ronaldinho scored his 50th and 51st career league goals against Villarreal, the second of which was an overhead bicycle kick. On December 14th, he scored once and assisted three times in Barcelona’s 4–0 Club World Cup victory over Mexico’s Club América. On January 10, 2010, he scored two goals against Juventus.
Ronaldinho joined Flamengo on January 11, 2011, and Atlético Mineiro on June 4, 2012. He signed a two-year contract with Mexican club Querétaro on September 5, 2014. Ronaldinho joined Fluminense on July 11, 2015.
Records
Ronaldinho scored three goals at the 2005 Confederations Cup, tying him with Mexican striker Cuauhtémoc Blanco for the tournament’s all-time lead with nine goals. Six of Ronaldinho’s goals came in 1999.
Retirement
Ronaldinho announced his retirement from football on January 16, 2018, through his brother and agency.