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Ronaldinho To Retire This Friday?? by Odunharry(m): 2:59am On Jul 24, 2013
Ronaldinho was born Ronaldo de
Assis Moreira on March 21, 1980, in
Porto Alegre, Brazil. His father, João
Moreira, was a former professional
soccer player who also worked as a
welder in a shipyard, and his mother, Miguelina de Assis, was a cosmetics
saleswoman who later became a
nurse. Ronaldinho's older brother,
Roberto Assis, was also a professional
soccer player; Ronaldinho was
surrounded by soccer from the day he was born. "I come from a family where
soccer has always been very present,"
he says. "My uncles, my father and my
brother were all players. Living with
that kind of background, I learned a
great deal from them. I tried to devote myself to it more and more with the
passage of time." In particular, Ronaldinho idolized his
father. "He was one of the most
important people for me and in my
career, even though he died when I
was very young," he says. (João
Moreira suffered a fatal heart attack when Ronaldinho was 8 years old.)
"He gave me some of the best advice
I've ever had. Off the field: 'Do the right
thing and be an honest, straight-up
guy.' And on the field: 'Play soccer as
simply as possible.' He always said one of the most complicated things you
can do is to play it simple." Ronaldinho began playing organized
youth soccer at the age of 7, and it
was as a youth soccer player that he
first received the nickname
"Ronaldinho," the diminutive form of
his birth name, Ronaldo. "They always called me that when I was little
because I was really small," the player
explains, "and I played with players
who were older than me. When I got
to the senior national team there was
another Ronaldo, so they started calling me Ronaldinho because I was
younger." Growing up in a relatively poor,
hardscrabble neighborhood,
Ronaldinho's youth teams had to
make do with makeshift playing fields.
"The only grass on the field was in the
corner," Ronaldinho remembers. "There was no grass in the middle! It
was just sand." In addition to soccer,
Ronaldinho also played futsal—an
offshoot of soccer played indoors on a
hard court surface and with only five
players on each side. Ronaldinho's early experiences with futsal helped
shape his unique playing style,
marked by his remarkable touch and
close control on the ball. "A lot of the
moves I make originate from futsal,"
Ronaldinho once said, explaining, "It's played in a very small space, and the
ball control is different in futsal. And to
this day, my ball control is pretty
similar to a futsal player's control."

Growing up in a relatively poor,
hardscrabble neighborhood,
Ronaldinho's youth teams had to
make do with makeshift playing fields.
"The only grass on the field was in the
corner," Ronaldinho remembers. "There was no grass in the middle! It
was just sand." In addition to soccer,
Ronaldinho also played futsal—an
offshoot of soccer played indoors on a
hard court surface and with only five
players on each side. Ronaldinho's early experiences with futsal helped
shape his unique playing style,
marked by his remarkable touch and
close control on the ball. "A lot of the
moves I make originate from futsal,"
Ronaldinho once said, explaining, "It's played in a very small space, and the
ball control is different in futsal. And to
this day, my ball control is pretty
similar to a futsal player's control." Ronaldinho quickly developed into
one of Brazil's most talented youth
soccer players. When he was 13 years
old, he once scored a ridiculous 23
goals in a single gam.
Re: Ronaldinho To Retire This Friday?? by Odunharry(m): 3:03am On Jul 24, 2013
Professional Career
Ronaldinho made his senior debut for
Grêmio in the 1998 Copa Libertadores
tournament. The next year, he was
invited to join the senior Brazilian
national team to compete in the
Confederations Cup in Mexico. Brazil turned in a second-place finish, and
Ronaldinho won the Golden Ball
Award as the tournament's best player
as well as the Golden Boot Award as
its leading goal scorer. Firmly established as a star on the
international stage, in 2001
Ronaldinho left Brazil for Europe,
signing a contract to play for Paris
Saint-Germain in France. A year later,
he participated in his first World Cup on a loaded Brazilian squad that also
featured Ronaldo and Rivaldo.
Ronaldinho scored two goals in five
matches, including the game-winner
in a quarter-final victory over England,
and Brazil went on to defeat Germany in the finals to claim its fifth World Cup
title.

In 2003, Ronaldinho fulfilled a lifelong
dream by joining FC Barcelona of the
Spanish league, one of the world's
most storied clubs, and winning the
legendary No. 10 jersey typically worn
by the squad's greatest creative player. In 2004 and 2005, Ronaldinho
won back-to-back FIFA World Player
of the Year awards, the sport's highest
individual honor. He also led his
teammates to the pinnacle of club
success in 2006 with a triumphant run through the prestigious Champions
League tournament. The following
month, Ronaldinho headlined a very
talented Brazilian squad that entered
the World Cup with sky-high
expectations. The tournament ended in disappointment for the defending
champs, though, as France knocked
Brazil out with a stunning upset in the
quarter-finals. In 2008, Ronaldinho left Barcelona to
join another of the world's most
renowned clubs, A.C. Milan, but his
performance for the Italian Series A
giant was mostly nondescript.
Underscoring his fading status, the former World Player of the Year was
not included in the 2010 Brazilian
team that competed in the World Cup
in South Africa.

In 2011, Ronaldinho returned to Brazil
to play for Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro.
The relationship between the club and
its most prominent player got off to a
great start when Flamengo won the
2011 Campeonato Carioca, but things turned sour by the following season.
Ronaldinho missed several practices
and performed indifferently in games,
and eventually had his contract
terminated due to unpaid wages.
Ronaldinho signed with Atlético Mineiro in June 2012, a move that
reignited his dynamic playmaking
abilities, and he was given another
shot with the national team to make
the 2014 World Cup roster.
Re: Ronaldinho To Retire This Friday?? by Odunharry(m): 3:11am On Jul 24, 2013
Ronaldinho has achieved an
impressive quantity of
championships, prizes and
recognitions at world level, next a
listing with his most important
achievements:
+ Champion of the World with the selection of Brazil in the Cup of the World Korea-Japan of the year 2002.
+ Twice champion of the Spanish league of soccer with the team Barcelona FC, in the seasons 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.
+ Champion of the World cup of juvenile soccer of the year 1997.
+ Champion of the UEFA champion league season 2005-2006.
+ Champion of the Intertoto Cup with the team Paris Saint-Germain in the season 2001-2002.
+ Twice champion of Supercup Spain with the team Barcelona FC in the years 2005 and 2006.
+ Champion of the America Cup of the year 1999.
+ Champion of the Confederations Cup in the year 2005.
+ Chosen twice as the best player in the world (FIFA World Player ) in the years 2004 and 2005.
+ Winner of the ball of gold in the year 2005.
+ Winner of the Ramón of Carranza Trophy in the year 2005. + Champion of the Cataluña Cup in the years 2003 and 2004.
+ Winner of the Joan Gamper Trophy in the years 2003, 2004 and 2006.
+ Winner in two opportunities of the prize Word Soccer in the years 2004 and 2005.
+ He marks the best goal in the UEFA champion league into the season 2004-2005.
+ Winner of the prize brass Onze in the year 2004.
+ Winner of the prize Onze of gold of the year 2005.
+ Better forward of the UEFA champion league in the season 2004-2005.
+ Better sportsman from Latin America of the year 2005.
+ Winner of the prize FIFpro to the best soccer player in the year 2005.
+ Scorer of the Confederations Cup of the year 1999.
+ Winner in two opportunities of the prize Don Ball like better foreigner of the Spanish league of soccer in the seasons 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.
Re: Ronaldinho To Retire This Friday?? by donigspain(m): 4:21am On Jul 24, 2013
Excuuusssse me OP,
You actually want me to waste 15 minutes of my precious life reading someone else's autobiography?
Re: Ronaldinho To Retire This Friday?? by donigspain(m): 4:22am On Jul 24, 2013
BTW, is the dude still playing football?

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