Soccer Ronaldinho
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.
Ronaldinho and his talented teammates Ronald and Rivaldo mesmerized onlookers at the Copa America in Paraguay. Ronaldinho scored Brazil’s fifth goal in their 7-0 trouncing of rival Venezuela. When Ronaldinho scored the game-winning goal off of an astounding 30-yard free kick which completely baffled England’s goalie David Seaman at 2002′s FIFA World Cup in Japan, he had made what has hence been known as the “Wonder Goal”. Having taken the quarterfinal, his team eventually won the World Cup. Ronaldinho was rewarded by being named part of the all-tournament team.
Winning almost every possible award in soccer, Ronaldinho’s prizes include the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005, and the UEFA’s Champion League Award in 2006 in Barcelona-that year scoring seven goals in just twelve matches. In 2008, Sport Illustrated magazine put Ronaldinho in the top fifth wealthiest athletes at $37.5 million that included earnings, bonuses, endorsements, and appearances. Only Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Beckham, and Kimi Raikkonen beat him in earnings-quite the achievement for the twenty-eight year old.
During his 200th match in the summer of 2008, Ronaldinho dismayed his fans and spectators of soccer by going down with a right leg injury–an injury that got him sitting the bench for the rest of the season. Then to complicate matters, Ronaldinho and his club got into an argument over his decision to play in the Bejing Olympic games. Nevertheless, Ronaldinho eventually got a deal with the Italian Club AC Milan and went on to play in the Olympics alongside 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.
Against Sporting Braga in the November 2008 UEFA Cup, Ronaldinho got Milan inot a 2-2 draw after they had fallen behind 2-0 when he scored a match-winner in the 93rd minute. His brother Roberto has been quite the force as Ronaldinho’s brother Roberto has acted as his brother’s agent and already brought him more endorsements for him that are booked up through 2014. Ronaldinho seems in better spirits these days in Milan, Italy.
In 2005 Ronaldinho named his and Brazilian dancer Janaina Mendes’ newborn son Joao was born. Only the soccer star and his brother the agent know where Ronaldinho is going to wind up next. However, many are already thinking, “If Beckham can go to the United States, why not Ronaldinho?
