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On 11 July 2015, Ronaldinho announced his return to Brazil and signed an 18month contract with Fluminense,119 but on 28 September, Ronaldinho reached a mutual agreement with the club to terminate the deal.120 He made nine appearances during his twomonth stint at the club, failing to impress and being heavily criticized by the fans.121 Fluminense sporting director Mario Bittencourt stated, Ronaldinho asked us for a meeting. He respectfully told us he didnt feel he was able to perform as well as he wanted and that it was a bad situation for him. He made a great gesture in saying he wasnt being the player he felt he could be right now. Ill never speak about whether or not he is retiring. Thats not something you say about a player of his calibre. He was always spectacular, as player and person.121 Futsal in India Ronaldinho signing a football at the Web Summit in November 2016 In July 2016, Ronaldinho played for the Goa 5′s, a futsal team from Goa in India, together with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Míchel Salgado, and Hernán Crespo as well as futsal player Falcão in the Premier Futsal League.122 After two games, he left India to be an ambassador of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.123 He was replaced by Cafu.124 From September to early October 2017, Ronaldinho joined the Delhi Dragons from Delhi in the Premier Futsal League. He scored 16 goals in eight games.125 Retirement On 16 January 2018, Ronaldinho confirmed his retirement from football through his brotheragent He has stopped, it is ended. Lets do something pretty big and nice after the Russia World Cup, probably in August.126 Such a celebration was supposed to take place three years after his last appearance for Fluminense, but has not materialized.126 He retired as one of just eight players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon dOr.127 Ronaldinho appeared at the closing ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 15 July, performing a few bars of the Russian folk song Kalinka sung by opera singer Aida Garifullina on an African drum.128 International career Youth teams In 1997, Ronaldinho was part of the first Brazilian team to win the FIFA U17 World Championship, which was held in Egypt, in which his first goal was a penalty against Austria in the first group match, which Brazil won 7–0.129 Ronaldinho finished with two goals and was awarded the Bronze Ball award as Brazil scored a total of 21 goals while only conceding 2.129 1999 was a busy year for Ronaldinho in terms of international play. First he appeared in the South American Youth Championship, where he scored three goals in nine appearances and helped the U20s to reach third place.130 Then he took part in the that years FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, scoring his first goal in Brazils last group match.131 In the round of 16, he scored two firsthalf goals in a 4–0 win over Croatia, and finished with three goals as Brazil were eliminated by Uruguay in the quarterfinals.131 Early success On 26 June, three days before the start of the 1999 Copa América, Ronaldinho debuted the Brazilian senior team in a 3–0 friendly victory against Latvia, while scoring one goal during Brazils victorious Copa América campaign as well.132 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 hattrick in an 8–2 semifinal rout of Saudi Arabia.133 In the final, Brazil lost 4–3 against Mexico. Ronaldinho won the Golden Ball award for the best player in tournament as well as the Golden Boot award for the tournament topscorer.133 In 2000, Ronaldinho participated in the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, with the U23 national team. Earlier that year, Ronaldinho led Brazil to win the PreOlympic Tournament, scoring nine goals in seven matches. However, in the Olympics, Brazil were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Cameroon, who later won the gold medal.134 Ronaldinho appeared four times and scored only one goal, which came in the quarterfinal defeat by Cameroon.134 2002 World Cup glory On the eve of the final, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho warmed up in the Yokohama Stadium by merrily trying to outwizard each other in the Japanese drizzle. — Amy Lawrence of The Guardian on the bond of the three Rs. 135 Ronaldinho participated in his first World Cup in 2002, as part of a formidable offensive unit with Ronaldo and Rivaldo, dubbed the Three Rs, who were also on the 1999 Copa América winning squad.136 The World Cup was held in South Korea and Japan, and Ronaldinho appeared in five matches during the tournament and scored two goals, as well as contributing with three assists.137 His first goal came in the group stage match against China PR, which Brazil won 4–0.138 The most memorable match in Ronaldinhos World Cup career took place in the quarterfinal against England on 21 June.139 With Brazil trailing after Michael Owens 23minute strike, Ronaldinho turned the game around. Having received the ball inside his own half, Ronaldinho ran at the England defence and wrong footed star defender Ashley Cole with a trademark step over before passing the ball to Rivaldo on the edge of the penalty area to score the equalising goal just before halftime.140 Then, in the 50th minute, Ronaldinho took a freekick from 40 yards out which curled into the top left corner of the net, completely surprising Englands goalkeeper David Seaman, giving Brazil a 2–1 lead.139141 Seven minutes later, he was sent off for a foul on England defender Danny Mills.139 Ronaldinho was suspended for the semifinal, but returned to Brazils starting lineup for the 2–0 victory over Germany in the final as Brazil won its record fifth World Cup title.142 2005 Confederations Cup title Ronaldinhos next international tournament was the 2003 Confederations Cup, in which he went scoreless as Brazil were eliminated in the group stage. The following year, he was dropped from Brazils 2004 Copa América squad, as coach Carlos Alberto Parreira decided to rest his stars and used a largely reserve squad.143 After falling short in 1999 and 2003, Ronaldinho was the captain of Brazil and led his team to its second ever Confederations Cup title in 2005. He converted a penalty kick in a 3–2 semifinal win against host Germany and was named Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over archrival Argentina in the final on 29 June.144 Ronaldinho scored three goals in the tournament and is tied with Mexican forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco as the tournaments alltime top goalscorer with nine goals.145 2006 World Cup Ronaldinho taking a corner during the 2006 World Cup For the 2006 World Cup finals, Ronaldinho was part of Brazils muchpublicized magic quartet of offensive players alongside Adriano, Ronaldo and Kaká, which was expected to provide the Joga Bonito style of play that was the focus of an extensive advertising campaign by Nike leading up to the tournament.146 However, deemed top heavy and unbalanced, the team finished with ten goals in five games, with Ronaldinho himself going scoreless and finishing with only one assist for Gilbertos goal in a 4–1 group stage victory over Japan, as he turned in his worst collective performance in his international career.146 Brazil endured a disappointing campaign that culminated in a 1–0 loss to France in the quarterfinals, during which the Seleção had only one shot on goal.147 How would Ronaldinho react After Pelés disappointment in the 1966 World Cup, he fought like a lion to get himself in good shape for 1970. Ronaldinho took a different path – one that led to the nightclub rather than the training ground. Tim Vickery for ESPN, January 2018. 148 The team was harshly criticized by Brazilian fans and media following their return home. On 3 July, two days after Brazils elimination, vandals immolated and destroyed a 23foot 7.5metre tall fiberglass and resin statue of Ronaldinho in Chapecó.149 The statue had been erected in 2004 to celebrate his first FIFA World Player of the Year award. That same day, Ronaldinho, joined by Adriano, returned to the city of Barcelona and held a party at his home, which was continued into the early morning hours at a nightclub. This aggravated the hard feelings of many Brazilian fans, who believed that they were betrayed by the lack of effort from the squad.150 Displaying a passivity to Brazils poor showing, the 2006 World Cup is now seen as the turning point in Ronaldinhos career, with his time at the summit of the game almost up.17 1970 Brazil World Cup winner Tostão wrote in O Tempo Ronaldinho lacks an important characteristic of Maradona and Pelé—aggression. They transformed themselves in adversity. They became possessed, and furious.17 2008 Olympic medal Ronaldinho at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing On 24 March 2007, Ronaldinho scored twice in a 4–0 win over Chile, which marked his first goal since the 2005 Confederations Cup final and thus ended a scoreless streak that lasted nearly two years.151 He was not called up for the 2007 Copa América after asking to be excused from the tournament due to fatigue.152 On 18 October, he was controversially benched by Barcelona after he was late returning to Spain following Brazils 5–0 friendly win over Ecuador. He and several Brazil players celebrated the win by partying through the night at a posh Rio de Janeiro nightclub. Ronaldinho left at 11 am the next morning, allegedly in the trunk of a car in order to avoid the media.153 On 7 July 2008, Ronaldinho was named in Brazils 2008 Summer Olympics squad as one of the overage players.154 Barcelona initially blocked the move because of his thenupcoming Champions League commitments with the club, but the decision was later nullified following Ronaldinhos transfer to Milan, who in turn permitted him to make the trip to Beijing, China.155 Ronaldinho captained the team, and he scored his only two goals in a 5–0 victory over New Zealand before Brazil were beaten by Argentina in the semifinal. Brazil finished with the bronze medal after defeating Belgium 3–0 in the thirdplace match.156 2010 and 2014 World Cup absence Despite having returned to good form and being named as a member of the 30man provisional squad that was submitted to FIFA on 11 May 2010,157 he was not named in coach Dungas final squad of 23 for the Brazilian squad in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup158 despite his deep desire to participate in the competition.159 Critics claimed that the exclusion of players such as Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato, Adriano and Ronaldo signaled a move away from the classic Brazilian attacking Joga Bonito style of play.158 At the tournament, Brazil was eliminated by the Netherlands in the quarterfinal.160 In September 2011, Ronaldinho made his return to the national team under coach Mano Menezes in a friendly against Ghana at Fulhams Craven Cottage,161 playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win for Brazil. He then had solid performances in back to back friendlies against Argentina in the same month. In October, he performed well against Mexico in a friendly, scoring a free kick to equalize after Dani Alves was sent off. Brazil went on to win the match with a goal from Marcelo.162 Ronaldinhos good form continued in 2013, and in January he was unexpectedly called up by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari163 for a friendly against England played on 6 February at Wembley Stadium as part of The Football Association FAs 150th anniversary.164 Ronaldinho started in what was his 100th cap including nonofficial matches, and had a chance to score from the penalty kick, but his shot was saved by Joe Hart. Brazil lost the match 1–2.165 He was again called up for the Seleção, being named captain of the national team for an international friendly with Chile on 24 April 2013.166 However, Ronaldinho was not selected for the national team for the 2013 Confederations Cup and he was also omitted from Scolaris 2014 World Cup finals squad.167 Player profile Style of play Barcelona 2005–06 season home shirt. Ronaldinho wore the number 10 for much of his club and international career. Ronaldinho is regarded as one of the greatest and most skilful players of all time.168169170171172 Due to his ability to score and create goals, he was capable of playing in several attacking positions.173174 Throughout his career, he was often deployed as a winger, although he usually played as a classic number 10 in an attacking midfielder role.174175 While he is naturally rightfooted, during his time at Barcelona, Ronaldinho was also used as an inverted winger on the left flank at times by manager Frank Rijkaard, while the leftfooted Messi was deployed on the right this position allowed him to cut inside and shoot on goal with his stronger foot.176177178 He was also capable of playing as a second striker.179 Despite primarily being a creative player, who was renowned for his passing, vision, and playmaking, Ronaldinho was an accurate finisher with either foot, both from inside and outside the penalty area, as well as being a freekick and penalty kick specialist.174180181 Although he was primarily known for his ability to bend the ball from set pieces,182 he was also capable of striking the ball with power underneath the wall, and also occasionally used the knuckleball technique, which was popularised by his compatriot Juninho Pernambucano.183184185 He is widely regarded as one of the most prolific free kick takers in history,186 and also influenced his former teammate Messi, who went on to become a free kick specialist himself.187 Throughout his career, Ronaldinho was praised by pundits in particular for his technical skills, flair, and creativity, as well as his exceptional first touch.17177 With his pace, acceleration, athleticism, ball control, and dribbling ability, he was capable of beating players during individual runs, often using an array of tricks and feints to get past opponents in one on one situations, including step overs and nutmegs.1720174182 Physically strong in possession of the ball, Richard Williams writes, Slender in build, the Brazilian has a strength belying the cartoonish smile.177 He also incorporated flashy moves such as backheels, bicycle kicks, and nolook passes into his playstyle.188189190191 Among his repertoire of moves is the elastico, a move he learned by watching videos of one of his idols, the 1970s Brazilian star Rivelino.192193 Ronaldinho came to be known as one of the best exponents of the feint, and in parts of Africa—especially Nigeria—this move is now called The Gaúcho, due to him popularising the use of this particular skill.20192193 Reception In addition to his dribbling ability and exhibiting a wide array of skills, Ronaldinho was also known for his creativity and vision. ESPN described Ronaldinho as being skillful by nature, his tricks are unparalleled and he is wonderful with the ball at his feet. One of the coolest players in pressure situations and a fast, brash, skilful, tricky, an uninhibited playmaker who provides a mix of goals, assists, skills and a large repertoire of crafty moves.194 Zlatan Ibrahimović stated, Prime Ronaldinho was phenomenal. He made his opponents look like children.195 Former Portugal midfield playmaker Rui Costa has said of his vision and passing ability There are not many players who can offer goalscoring passes like he can. He is just marvellous. He is a rare case of an assist man who can provide the ball from anywhere.194 In 2010, his former Barcelona teammate, Edgar Davids, said of him For the skills and tricks, Ronaldinho was the best player that I ever played with.196 Another one of his former Barcelona teammate, Henrik Larsson, echoed this view.196 His compatriot Willian rated him as the greatest player of all time in 2019,197 while Juninho described him as the most skilful player he had ever seen. In 2019, FourFourTwo described him as possibly the best technician in the history of football in Brazil, placing him at number five in their list of The 101 greatest football players of the last 25 years.198 In 2006, Richard Williams of The Guardian described Ronaldinho as a genius, while his former Barcelona teammate Sylvinho said of him Hes so smart, so intelligent, that sometimes its difficult to read his mind, also adding Hes amazing. Hes 100 talent. And hes a powerful player as well, so its difficult to stop him.177 The Brazilian legend Tostão claimed Ronaldinho has the dribbling skills of Rivelino, the vision of Gérson, the spirit and happiness of Garrincha, the pace, skill and power of Jairzinho and Ronaldo, the technical ability of Zico and the creativity of Romário. Above all he had one, very special ability he made you smile. — Sid Lowe after Ronaldinhos retirement in January 2018.168 In spite of his performances at his peak, a period of dedication and focus which saw him named the FIFA World Player of the Year twice and receive the Ballon dOr, Ronaldinho was also criticised on occasion in the media for his lack of discipline in training, as well as his hedonistic lifestyle off the pitch, which impacted the overall longevity of his career.199 Referring to Ronaldinho as Brazils childlike genius who never grew up, Tim Vickery writes that it was the sudden death of his father at such a young age that may have seen Ronaldinho shy away from remaining at the top, with the attitude of life is short and can end unexpectedly—so enjoy it while you can.17 Ronaldinho pictured with Barcelona in 2007 has been a UNICEF ambassador since February 2006. Ronaldinho has had endorsements with many companies, including Nike, Pepsi, CocaCola, EA Sports and Danone.58200 One of the worlds highest paid players, in 2006 he earned over 19 million from endorsements.201 Having endorsed Pepsi for much of his career and appeared in commercials with David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho signed a deal with CocaCola in 2011, however this was terminated in July 2012 after he was caught drinking Pepsi in a news conference.202 Ronaldinho has featured in EA Sports FIFA video game series, appearing on the cover of FIFA Football 2004, FIFA Street, FIFA 06, FIFA 07, FIFA Street 3, FIFA 08 and FIFA 09.200 At the beginning of his career Ronaldinho signed a lucrative 10year deal with sportswear company Nike wearing Nike Tiempo R10 boots designed for him.58 He has appeared in Nike commercials, including the 2002 Secret Tournament commercial branded Scorpion KO directed by Terry Gilliam.203 His 2005 Nike advertisement, where he is given a new pair of boots and then proceeds to juggle a football and appears to repeatedly volley it against the crossbar of a goal and recover it without the ball touching the ground, went viral on YouTube, becoming the sites first video to reach one million views.204205 A 2010 Nike commercial, Write the Future directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, features Ronaldinho executing a number of stepovers, which became a viral video reenacted and shared millions of times.206 A wax sculpture of Ronaldinho was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong in December 2007.207 Ronaldinho has had an official role with UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund, since February 2006.208 In 2011, he was recruited by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIVAIDS to promote awareness among young people of the disease and how to avoid it.209 In March 2015, Ronaldinho was the sixth most popular sportsperson on Facebook, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Beckham, Neymar and Kaká, with 31 million Facebook fans.210 Ronaldinho also has over 50 million Instagram followers.211 On 2 February 2017, Barcelona announced that Ronaldinho signed a 10year deal to become an ambassador for the club at institutional events.212 On 6 July 2018, Ronaldinho announced a partnership with company World Soccer Coin WSC to develop a new cryptocurrency, the Ronaldinho Soccer Coin, with WSC claiming that the profits of the coin will be used to football projects such as Ronaldinho Digital Stadiums.213214 On 29 October 2020, Ronaldinho released a statement regarding the NagornoKarabakh conflict and Azerbaijan. He expressed solidarity with Azerbaijani people.215 In late July 2021, he went to Beirut, Lebanon, to lay a wreath in honor of victims of the port explosion.216 In fiction, Ronaldinho features as a character in Rupert Thomsons 2021 novel Barcelona Dreaming.217 In 2018, he appeared in the American martial arts film Kickboxer Retaliation, alongside Alain Moussi and JeanClaude Van Damme.218 Ronaldinho Gaúcho comic strip Ronaldinho Gaúcho is a Brazilian celebrity comic strip by Mauricio de Sousa, syndicated by Atlantic Syndication.219 It features a fictionalised version of the Ronaldinho as a child. The strip was created in 2006, when the 2006 FIFA World Cup was taking place in Germany. It ran until 2015.220 It was adapted into an animated television series as Ronaldinho Gaúchos Team, produced by Italian studio GIG Italy Entertainment, with the coproduction of MSP Mauricio de Sousa Produções. In 2014, because of the FIFA World Cup held in Brazil, Ronaldinho Gaúchos short animated series was acquired by the paid childrens channel Gloob,221 at the same time, the Discovery Kids channel aired the series Pelezinho in Planet Soccer.222 The series Pelezinho in Planet Soccer was also launched, usually passing during Discovery Kids commercials, and Neymar Jr. by Nickelodeon.223 Legal troubles In July 2019, 57 properties belonging to Ronaldinho along with his Brazilian and Spanish passports were confiscated because of unpaid taxes and fines.224 The judge ultimately decided to reduce the fine from R8.5 million to R6 million for building a fishing platform on Guaíba River in a heritageprotected area.225 Ronaldinho and his brother would ultimately fail to pay the fines within the allotted time and have their passports suspended.226 In March 2020, he was questioned by police in Paraguay after he was alleged to have used a fake passport to enter the country while coming for a charity event and book promotion,227 with Ronaldinho and his brother both being held in custody in the country.228229 A lawyer representing Ronaldinho and his brother could not explain why they used fake passports to enter the country as Brazilian nationals do not require a passport to countries that are members of the Mercosur trade bloc.228 While in prison he competed in a prison futsal tournament, where his team was victorious. They won 11–2 in the finals, with Ronaldinho scoring 5 goals and assisting the other 6.230 He attempted to appeal the detention order but was ordered to remain under house arrest with his brother.229 On 24 August 2020, Ronaldinho and his brother were released from Paraguayan prison after their judge agreed to a plea deal with fines of US90,000 and US110,000 for the brothers, respectively.231232233 Personal life Growing up, Ronaldinhos idols included the World Cup–winning stars Rivelino from 1970 Diego Maradona from 1986 Romário from 1994 and his two future international teammates Ronaldo and Rivaldo who would, together with him, form the attacking trio in Brazils 2002 World Cup–winning team.234 Ronaldinho is the father of a son, João, born on 25 February 2005, to Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes and named after his late father.235 He gained Spanish citizenship in 2007.236 In March 2018, Ronaldinho joined the Brazilian Republican Party, which has links to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.237 Ronaldinho endorsed presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election.238 Career statistics Ronaldinho made 853 appearances and scored 328 goals for club and country combined, with a goalscoring average of 0.38.239 Club International Notes Scores and results list Brazils goal tally first. 252 Honours Grêmio259241 Barcelona259 Flamengo259264 Atlético Mineiro264 Brazil U17 Brazil U23156 Brazil259 Individual Other In 2012, two Brazilian entomologists named a new species of bee, from Brazil, Eulaema quadragintanovem, stating that the specific epithet honors the Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, famous worldwide as Ronaldinho and in Brazil as Ronaldinho Gaúcho. Quadraginta novem means fortynine in Latin, the number of Ronaldinhos jersey at Atlético Mineiro, his former team in Brazil. Ronaldinho chose the number 49 as an homage to his mother, born in 1949.305 See also References