RONALDINHO

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʁonawˈdʒĩɲu]) or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer and ambassador for Spanish club Barcelona. He played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a forward or a winger. He played the bulk of his career at European clubs Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and A.C. Milan as well as playing for the Brazilian national team. Often considered one of the best players of his generation and regarded by many as one of the greatest of all time,[note 2] Ronaldinho won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d'Or. He was renowned for his technical skills and creativity; due to his agility, pace and dribbling ability, as well as his use of tricks, overhead kicks, no-look passes and accuracy from free-kicks. Among his repertoire of moves, Ronaldinho was one of the best exponents of the "Elastico", a move he learned by watching videos of one of his idols, the 1970s Brazilian star Rivelino.

Ronaldinho made his senior side debut during the 1998 Copa Libertadores. 1999 saw the emergence of the 18-year-old Ronaldinho, with 23 goals in 48 matches, and he put in headlining displays in derbies against Internacional. At age 20, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain in France , where despite showing promise was trophyless before signing for Barcelona in 2003. In his second season with Barcelona, Barcelona won La Liga. The season that followed is considered one of the best in his career as he was instrumental in Barcelona winning the UEFA Champions League, their first in fourteen years, as well as another La Liga title, giving Ronaldinho his first career double. After scoring two spectacular solo goals in El Clásico, Ronaldinho became the second Barcelona player, after Diego Maradona in 1983, to receive a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabéu. Following a second-place La Liga finish to rivals Real Madrid in the 2006–07 season and an injury plagued 2007–08 season, Ronaldinho departed Barcelona to join Milan. He then returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo in 2011 and Atlético Mineiro a year later where he won the Copa Libertadores, before moving to Mexico to play for Querétaro and then back to Brazil to play for Fluminense in 2015.

Ronaldinho earned his first cap for Brazil in a 3–0 win over Latvia, and he scored one goal during Brazil's victorious Copa América campaign. One week after the conclusion of the Copa América, he was called up for the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which he scored in every match except the final, including a hat-trick in an 8–2 semi-final rout of Saudi Arabia.[117] In the final, Brazil lost 4–3 to Mexico. Ronaldinho won the Golden Ball award for the best player in tournament as well as the Golden Boot award for the tournament top-scorer. In 2000, Ronaldinho participated in the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, with the U23 team where they were eliminated in the quarter finals. He participated in his first World Cup in 2002, and rose to prominence as part of a formidable offensive unit with Ronaldo and Rivaldo, dubbed the "Three Rs". Ronaldinho appeared in five matches during the tournament and scored two goals (including an infamous goal from a free kick vs England in the quarters), as well as contributing several important assists. Ronaldinho was suspended for the semi-final, but returned to Brazil's starting lineup for the 2–0 victory over Germany in the final as Brazil won its record fifth World Cup title. After failing during the 2003 Confederations Cup and rested from the 2004 Copa America, Ronaldinho captained the Brazil team to victory in the 2005 Confederations cup. For the 2006 World Cup finals, Ronaldinho was part of Brazil's much-publicized "magic quartet" of offensive players alongside Adriano, Ronaldo and Kaká, which was expected to provide the "Joga Bonito" style of play. However, deemed “top heavy and unbalanced”, the team finished with only six goals in five games, with Ronaldinho putting in his worst series of performances in his international career. He was never called up for a major tournament again.