 Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre,
Brazil), better known as "Ronaldinho" (Little Ronaldo), is
regarded as one of the world's top football players.
Making a name for himself as the top scorer at the under-17
world championship in Egypt, Ronaldinho began his professional
career at Grêmio, and played there from 1998-2001. In his
Brazilian national team debut on June 26, 1999, he scored his
first international goal, against Paraguay, to win the Copa
América. To date, he has won 34 caps for Brazil, scoring 13
goals.
In 2001, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with Paris
Saint-Germain. The manager of PSG thought that Ronaldinho was
too focused on the Paris nightlife rather than on his football.
He started playing at the beginning of the 01/02 season due to a
protracted legal battle between PSG and Grêmio over the transfer
fee. Grêmio finally received $4.5 million.
In 2002, Ronaldinho helped Brazil win the World Cup. One of the
highlights of the tournament was a spectacular 35-metre lob he
scored against England in the quarter-finals.
In 2003, Ronaldinho made it known he wanted to leave PSG after
they failed to qualify for European competition. That set off a
bidding war among the elite clubs for his services. On July 19,
FC Barcelona snapped him up for 27 million Euro, trumping
Manchester United. Ronaldinho justified their purchase, leading
them to a second-place finish in the Spanish first division
during the 03/04 season.
Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Henrik Larsson and Ludovic
Giuly, he comprises part of an awesome strike force which has
led Barça to the top of the Spanish league with a large gap down
to second place.
On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of
the Year over Thierry Henry and Andriy Shevchenko. |
