RONALDINHO

 Personal Information

Name: Ronaldo de Assís Moreira  Famous as: Ronaldinho  Date of Birth: 21 st March, 1980  Hometown: Porto Alegre, Brazil  Height: 5' 11"  Nationality: Brazilian  Current Club: FC Barcelona  Playing Position: Attacking Midfielder

 Life before Professional Football

 Ronaldihno was born in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. His elder brother was a
 significant part of football. He used to play for Gremio, who gifted a house to him for 
 staying at the club. Roberto could not move on with his career having faced serious
 injuries and now it was time for Ronaldinho to move forward. Ronaldinho started taking
 interest in the game and was a regular participant in beach football. It was here that
 his great skills were blossomed and unveiled. When he was just 13 years of age, he
 scored 23 goals in a match against a local team. This gave him his first appearance on
 Television Media. This was the beginning of the great career of Ronaldinho.

 International Career

 Ronaldinho stepped in the International arena on 7th March, 1995, representing Brazil
 against Scotland in an under 15 competition.

 The next big stage where Ronaldinho took part was the Copa America 1999.He scored
 his first goal for the Brazilian side against Venezuela. Brazil won the Copa America 1999
 tournament.

 Ronaldinho was both top player and top scorer in the 1999 Fifa Federations Cup. His
 abilities as a world class player were visible to all. In this Cup, he also scored a hat-trick
 against Saudi Arabia. Brazil were runners-up in this tournament, losing to Mexico in the
 final.

 Ronaldinho appeared in his first World Cup of 2002, where he framed his name along
 with the two famous "Rs" of Brazil, Ronaldo and Rivaldo. He scored two goals in the
 World Cup, a famous one against England in the Quarter-finals. He featured in the 
 starting line-up of Brazil in the final against Germany. Brazil were crowned champions in
 the 2002 World Cup Final.

 The next big stage was the 2005 Confederations Cup, where he again showed his
 magic with his feet. He was named the captain of the team for this tournament and
 lead the team confidently and came out victorious. He was the Man of the Match in
 the Final against Argentina.

 Ronaldinho appeared in his Second World Cup in 2006 in Greece. This was a gloomy
 period in the career of great dribbler. He showed poor performances in the first five
 games of the tournament. And then in the Quarter-finals, when France defeated Brazil
 1-0, he failed to make an impression and couldn't make up to the fans expectations.

 Club Career

 Ronaldinho started his Club Career representing club Germio in the 1998 Libertadores
 Cup. His great abilities of ball controlling and dribbling were soon blossomed. He earned
 a great name for himself and joined the International team in 1999. Great English clubs
 liike Arsenal, were in vain in signing up the great Brazilian.

 In 2001, Ronaldinho went to play European Football. He signed up for PSG (Paris Saint
 Germain). After the 2002 Fifa World Cup, Ronaldinho decided to quit PSG. This created
 great interest in famous leagues like Manchester United and FC Barcelona, who were
 willing to sign him up. FC Barcelona won the race with Manchester United and
 Ronaldinho signed up for it in 2003.

 Ronaldinho's career in the Spanish League was full of stars and butterflies. His signing
 of the Barcelona team was according to the footsteps of the great Brazilian players
 like Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

 The 2003-04 Season with Barcelona was a sparkling one. The starter against AC Milan
 was a great one for Ronaldinho where he scored a great goal to make the victory
 margin to 2-0. He took Barcelona to the Second Spot at the end of the La Liga
 2003/2004 Season.

 The 2005-06 Season again was a good one as proclaimed by Ronaldinho standards.
 He won many awards in this Season and scored many significant goals. They were
 crowned the La Liga Champions in 2005-06 when they won against Celta Vigo.

 Barcelona became European Champions in 2006 defeating arch rivals Arsenal.
 Ronaldinho finished the season with 26 goals.

 Career Highlights

 Club 

• Rio Grande do Sul State Championship: 1999
• Spanish Liga: 2005, 2006
• Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006
• UEFA Champions League: 2006
• FIFA Club World Cup 2006: Runners-up

 International

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: 1997
• Copa America: 1999
• FIFA World Cup: 2002
• Confederations Cup: 2005

 Individual

• Pelé named Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004.
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2004, 2005
• World Soccer Player of the Year: 2004, 2005
• European Footballer of the Year: 2005
• FIFPro World Player of the Year 2005, 2006
• FIFPro World XI: 2005, 2006
• Onze d'Or: 2005
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2005-06
• FIFA All-Star team: 2002
• FIFA World Club Cup Bronze Ball Award: 2006