Sports in news: ronaldinho champion football player

Name : Ronaldinho

Date of Birth : March 21, 1980

Place of Birth : Porto Alegre, Brazil

Nationality : Brazilian

Height : 180 cm

Weight : 76 kg

Profession : Soccer Player

Club : FC Barcelona

Position : Attacking Midfielder/Forward [L, C]

Real Name : Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil) is a footballer more commonly known as Ronaldinho Ga?due to his citizenship in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. His name Ronaldinho, portugese for "little ronaldo", was originally devised as a means of distinguishing between himself, and fellow Brazilian footballer Ronaldo. Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice as well as both the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award once. He is widely regarded as the best player in the world. In his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after a 23 goal flurry from Ronaldinho at just 13 years of age. His reputation as a footballer was upheld during most of his childhood, particularly due to the fact he was the top scorer in the Egypt under-17 world championship, and to his stylish play. His professional career began at Grꭩo, where his penchant for goalscoring was displayed; generating speculation and interest around his career due to his phenomenal ball control and ability to score. This was followed by his introduction into the Brazilian national team. On his first appearance (on June 26, 1999) his winning goal against Venezuela helped the team win the Copa Am鲩ca. Towards the end of his career at Grꭩo, in 2001, many clubs from all over the world, particularly premiership teams in the United Kingdom, were eager to sign him as an attempt to attain a "big name" player, as well as a well performing player. Despite several generous bids from Premiership teams, and several requests from Grꭩo, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract for Paris Saint-Germain, and started his contract at the beginning of the following season. During his time at PSG, the manager, Luis Fernandez, claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than on his football. In 2002, Ronaldinho helped Brazil win the World Cup. One of the highlights of the tournament was an outrageous (if fortunate) 35-metre lob he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka, although he was sent off soon after a harsh foul on Danny Mills. In 2003, Ronaldinho made it known he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for any European competitions. That set off a bidding war among the top clubs for his services. On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for ?27 million, beating Manchester United to his signature. Ronaldinho justified their purchase, leading them to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 03/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, 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 ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko. On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad which won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, where he was named Man of the Match in a 4?1 victory over Argentina in the final. Pel頮amed Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004. 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.