Ronaldo born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho.
Everyone was surprised at Gremio de Porto Alegre when Ronaldo Assis de Moreira presented himself in the team's junior divisions. Tall and lanky, the kid that would later be known to the world as Ronaldinho surprised everyone with a mix of goals, skills and a large repertoire of crafty moves.
Two years later he was making his debut with the club's senior team, with which he would become champion of the Rio Grande do Sul tournament in a performance that made him one of the most outstanding players of his team: he scored 15 goals in 14 games.
Paris Saint Germain got his services and with them Ronaldinho made his debut in the European game. In the meantime, he was world champion with the national team in 2002, but with his French club he was unable to develop properly, and after several seasons he moved to Barcelona. There, the best version of the Brazilian player came through: he won two Liga titles and became the undisputed idol of the club, a condition that he later validated by winning the UEFA Champions League.After the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the helm of the team, Ronaldinho stopped being considered for the first-team. His poor performances, his lack of training discipline and frequent injuries, some of them regarded as doubtful by the club's management, ended up making him leave Barcelona. AC Milan was his destination, but he lasted less than three years at the club before heading back to Brazil to play for Flamengo in Janury 2011.
On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for Ј18 million. Ronaldinho justified the purchase, leading Barcelona to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 2003/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Lionel Messi, Ludovic Giuly and Henrik Larsson, he comprises part of an awesome strike force which reaped the 2004/05 La Liga title for FC Barcelona. On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year. On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. There he stole the ball from the center and scored with remarkable breaks, luring in the process most of Madrid players. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid faithfuls gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which occurred last when Diego Maradona was in Barcelona.
In 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/05. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the European Footballer of the Year Award. 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 and 190 points of Barзa teammate Samuel Eto'o. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006. He received more votes than any other player in that team. Over 1.5 million people participated in that vote.Ronaldinho, on March 7, 2006 in the 2nd leg of the Champions League at Camp Nou, scored a spectacular goal against Chelsea. He received the ball from Eto'o outside the box, dribbled past three defenders and edged past a fourth player, and hit the ball hard and low past goalkeeper Petr Cech. The next day, in a press conference, Ronaldinho expressed his happiness with Barcelona and bashed speculations for a possible transfer to Chelsea: On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. There he stole the ball from the center and scored with remarkable breaks, luring in the process most of Madrid players. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid faithfuls gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which occurred last when Diego Maradona was in Barcelona.
In 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/05. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the European Footballer of the Year Award. 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 and 190 points of Barзa teammate Samuel Eto'o. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006. He received more votes than any other player in that team. Over 1.5 million people participated in that vote.
Ronaldinho, on March 7, 2006 in the 2nd leg of the Champions League at Camp Nou, scored a spectacular goal against Chelsea. He received the ball from Eto'o outside the box, dribbled past three defenders and edged past a fourth player, and hit the ball hard and low past goalkeeper Petr Cech. The next day, in a press conference, Ronaldinho expressed his happiness with Barcelona and bashed speculations for a possible transfer to Chelsea: "I'm very happy with Barзa. I can't imagine being happier anywhere else but with Barзa. There isn't enough money to buy my happiness. I see myself being here the rest of my life and I hope to keep on bringing joy to the Barзa fans".
“God gives gifts to everyone, ... Some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it.”--- Ronaldinho
“I never saw myself outside Barca. I only listened to their offer and wasn't interested in what other clubs were doing,”
Ronaldinho
(Bojan):
The most amazing moment was when Ronaldinho pass next to me and waved me. Some of the players that have already arrived had waved me too but there was something on the Ronaldinho’s personality that made everything special. That player arrived when the Barça wasn’t the best and tried to return them to the best, to raise the team up by himself.
(Messi):“Best I played with? I was lucky to play with Ronaldinho.
| — | Ronaldinho |
Messi is my little brother and he’ll always be”
— Pep Guardiola on Ronaldinho
“He was the key reference point for the change the club needed. When he arrived, the club was a bit down and I’d seen nothing like it when he came in – he was so decisive. His physique, his skill… he was a real help to this club.”
| Juliano Belletti, ex-player of FC Barcelona |
“He [Ronaldinho] had competitors that made him even greater. He competed with Zidane and Figo. He gave me many titles. Now, Messi has a lot more help in the team than Ronaldinho had. If I had to choose between the Ronaldinho of those days and Lionel Messi today, I’d choose Ronaldinho.” 