Biography of Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho's youth
Ronaldinho Gaúcho was born on 21st March 1980 in Porto Alegre,
Brazil. He was born in a family of soccer addicts. Ronaldinho and his
family lived in a wooden house in a favela. His father, João de Silva Moreira, played for Esporte Clube Cruzeiro, a local soccer club. To get by, he worked as a car park attendant at FC Gremio. João also worked in a local shipyard.Ronaldinho's sister, Deisi, works as his press coordinator. His older brother, Roberto, now works as his manager.
| Roberto showed a lot of soccer talent at a young age as well. When he signed a contract at FC Grêmio, he and his family moved into a villa in the more sophisticated and developed part of Porto Alegre, Guarujá. Life was good for Ronaldinho and his family. But when Ronaldinho was eight, his father suffered a fatal heart attack in the villa's swimming pool. To make things even worse, Roberto had to stop his soccer career after a bad knee injury. |  |
Ronaldinho's first breakthrough
Ronaldinho really started to make a name for himself at the age of 13 when he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team.Ronaldinho was signed by FC Grêmio to play in their youth squad. He was considered a wonder child from the age of 17. He played for the Brazilian U-17 squad at the U-17 WC in Egypt in 1997. He scored his first goal from a penalty in the 7-0 victory against Austria. He scored a total of 2 penalties at that tournament. Ronaldinho won the Bronze Ball at this tournament.
From that point, Ronaldinho's career went fast. In 1999, he played a lot of international matches. He was part of the Brazilian Youth Squad in the FIFA World Youth Championship. There, he scored his first goal in the group stage. He then scored twice against Croatia in the 1/16 final. Brazil was eliminated by Uruguay in the quarterfinals.
On 26 June 1999, Ronaldinho earned his first cap for Brazil in a 3-0 win over Latvia. Three days later, he took part in Brazil's successful Copa América campaign. After the Copa América, Ronaldinho played in the Confederations Cup. He scored in every match but he missed the final against Mexico due to an injury. Brazil lost that match 4-3.
Moving to Europe
 |
In 2001, Arsenal showed interest in Ronaldinho. They were close to signing him, but the transfer was cancelled when Ronaldinho wasn't able to obtain a work permit due to a lack of caps. To gain some international experience, Ronaldinho wanted to play on loan at Scottish St. Mirren. This move was also cancelled because Ronaldinho was involved in a fake passport scandal in Brazil just recently. But in the end, he did get his transfer to Europe when he signed a 5-year deal at Paris Saint-Germain. Ronaldinho participated in the World Cup in 2002. He formed a magnificent trio with Rivaldo and Ronaldo. Ronaldinho scored twice. Due to a suspension, he had to miss the semifinal. He did play in the final which Brazil won in a 2-0 victory over Germany. |
Ronaldinho's move to Barcelona and his final breakthrough
In 2003, Ronaldinho moved to Barcelona. Barca was initially trying to
sign David Beckham but when Beckham moved to Real Madrid, Barca's
president, Joan Laporta, outbid Manchester United and brought Ronaldinho
in.Ronaldinho suffered from various injuries during his first half year at Barcelona. When Ronaldinho returned, he helped Barca to the second place in the Primera Division. Ronaldinho won his first league title at Barca during the season of 2004-2005. He was also named FIFA World Player of the Year in December 2004 and he was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year.
Ronaldinho became a father on 25 February 2005. The mother of his son is the Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes. Their son is named João after Ronaldinho father.
In 2005, Ronaldinho was chosen over Frank Lampard and Samuel Eto'o for another title of FIFA World Player of the Year. He also received a place in the UEFA Team of the Year for the second consecutive time. To honor Ronaldinho, he got a 23-foot tall statue in Chapecá, Brazil. Later that year, Barca was eliminated in the Champions League by Chelsea in the first knockout round after a 4-2 loss. Ronaldinho scored both goals for Barcelona. Brazil won another Confederations Cup in which Ronaldinho played as Brazil's captain. Ronaldinho was named Man of the Match in a 4-1 victory over Argentina. Since that tournament, he shares the title of all-time scorer in the Confederations Cup with Cuauht'moc Blanco of Mexico. Both scored 9 goals. |
 |
After scoring two of the three goals in El Clásico in 2005 against Real Madrid, Ronaldinho received a standing ovation from both Barca's and Real's fans.
 |
In 2006, Ronaldinho was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time. In the same season, he contributed to defeating Benfica and AC Milan in the Champions League Quarter Final and Semi Final. On 17 May 2006, Barcelona defeated Arsenal with a 2-1 win in the Champions League Final. Barca also won their second consecutive title. Ronaldinho scored 26 goals in all competitions during the season of 2005-2006. He was also named Champions League Player of the Year. |
Injuries, critics and Ronaldinho's breakdown
After their elimination, Ronaldinho and the rest of the Brazilian
squad were heavily criticized by the media and the fans. Ronaldinho's
statue in Chapecá was destroyed by unsatisfied fans. Later that day,
Ronaldinho and Adriano returned to Ronaldinho's house in Barcelona to play poker
and have a party. They were spotted in a nightclub that same night,
which caused the fans to accuse Ronaldinho of a lack of effort.In the season of 2006-2007, Ronaldinho scored the 50th goal in his career. Barca finished second in the World Cup for Clubs after losing 1-0 to Internacional. Ronaldinho did score a goal and gave two assists in the 4-0 win over Club América. Ronaldinho also won the Bronze Ball Award.
Ronaldinho has only capped 3 times in 6 months under head coach Dunga. In 2007, he scored twice in the 4-0 victory over Chile. These were his first goals for Brazil since the 2005 Confederations Cup.
Brazil won the 2007 Copa América but Ronaldinho wasn't called up to participate. Later that year, Ronaldinho returned too late in Barcelona after a friendly match between Brazil and Ecuador. Ronaldinho and several other Brazilian internationals celebrated their win in Rio de Janeiro. To punish him, Barcelona put him on the bench for the next match.
Ronaldinho also finished 3rd in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year, behind Fabio Cannavaro and Zinédine Zidane. Ronaldinho also won a place in the UEFA Team of the Year for the 3rd consecutive time in 2007. In March, Ronaldinho suffered from an injury in the 3-3 draw against Real Madrid. Ronaldinho played his 200th match for Barcelona against Osasuna in 2008. Another injury ended what would be his last season at Barca. |
 |
Ronaldinho played a very disappointing season after his excellent seasons at Barcelona. Critics and tabloids were after him. The fans expected him to play like he did during the last two seasons but Ronaldinho just couldn't reach that level anymore.
Ronaldinho's move to AC Milan
 |
During the transfer period, Manchester City showed concrete interest in Ronaldinho. The deal was of after Ronaldinho rejected a €25.5 million deal. Ronaldinho eventually moved to AC Milan for €21 million. He scored his first goal for Milan against rivals Internazionale in a 1-0 victory on 28 September 2008. He also scored the winning goal against Braga in the UEFA Cup group stage. Ronaldinho still hasn't found the form he had during the period between 2004 and 2006. Many people argue on why this is. Some say it's because of his injuries, others say he isn't focused on his career and loves partying more than playing top soccer. |
Ronaldinho's Gallery
1997 FIFA U-17 World Cup (Brazil U-17)
1998 -
1999 Confederations Cup Golden Ball (individual)
Confederations Cup Top Scorer (individual)
Copa América (Brazil)
State Champion Top Scorer (individual)
2000 -
2001 -
2002 World Cup (Brazil)
World Cup All-Star Team (individual)
2003 -
2004 EFE Trophy / Best Ibero-American Player in La Liga (individual)
UEFA Team of the Year (individual)
World Player of the Year (individual)
2005 Confederations Cup (Brazil)
European Footballer of the Year (individual)
FIFA World Player of the Year (individual)
FIFPro World Player of the Year (individual)
FIFPro World XI (individual)
La Liga (Barcelona)
UEFA Best Club Forward (individual)
UEFA Club Football of the Year (individual)
UEFA Team of the Year (individual)
Supercopa de España (Barcelona)
2006 Champions League (Barcelona)
FIFPro World Player of the Year (individual)
FIFPro World XI (individual)
La Liga (Barcelona)
Supercopa de España (Barcelona)
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (individual)
UEFA Team of the Year (individual)
2007 FIFPro World XI (individual)
Biography of
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (born 5
February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese
footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club
Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo
became the most expensive player in football history after moving from
Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million
(€94m, US$132m). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he
was to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, made
him the highest-paid football player in the world at the time, and his
buyout clause was valued at €1 billion as per his contract.
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo`s precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003.
The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup and played at Euro 2004 with Portugal. Ronaldo scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, although Greece won 2–1. Portugal reached the final, which they again lost to Greece.
Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the competition`s top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies, only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro, World Soccer and Onze d`Or Footballer of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United`s first Ballon d`Or winner in 40 years.
Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against FC Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United. Three-time Ballon d`Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."
On 15 May 2011, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in a season in the history of Real Madrid with 51 goals, surpassing the club`s previous high of 49 by Ferenc Puskás. He would later finish the season with a total of 53 goals, making him the first Real Madrid player to ever reach and surpass 50 goals in a season. Six days later, Ronaldo broke the record of most goals ever scored in a season in La Liga with 40, surpassing Telmo Zarra`s mark established in 1951 and Hugo Sanchez`s mark matched in 1990. Ronaldo also broke Zarra`s record of most goals per minute, with a goal scored every 70.7 minutes. The newspaper Marca, the official deliverer of the Pichichi Trophy (the top La Liga goalscorer award), claimed that Ronaldo scored 41 goals. By doing so, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different championships.
Manchester United 2003–2006
Ronaldo became Manchester United`s first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for €15 million[21] (£12.24 million) after the 2002–03 season.[22] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I`d like. I said 28. But Ferguson said `No, you`re going to have No. 7,` and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour." Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United`s 3–0 FA Cup final victory over Millwall. He scored United`s 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough.[25] He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award in 2005. |
| Ronaldo |
He was sent off in the Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium on 14 January 2006 (a game which United lost 3–1) for kicking City`s former United player Andrew Cole. Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football in the 2005–06 season, scoring the third goal in Manchester United`s 4–0 Football League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic.
Real Madrid 2009–10 season
On 26 June 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Ronaldo would join the club
on 1 July 2009 from Manchester United for £80 million,[65] after
agreeing terms and signing a six-year contract.[66] Ronaldo`s contract
is worth €11 million per year[4] and it has a €1 billion buy-out clause.
He was presented to the world media as a Real Madrid player on 6
July,[68] where he was handed the number 9 jersey.[69] The shirt was
presented to him by Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano.[70] Ronaldo was
welcomed by 80,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu
Stadium, surpassing Diego Maradona`s record of 75,000 fans when he was
presented in Italy, after he was transferred from Barcelona to Napoli in
1984.[71]
Ronaldo made his Madrid debut on 21 July in a 1–0 win over Shamrock Rovers. His first goal came one week later with a penalty in Madrid`s 4–2 win over LDU Quito. On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real`s second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña.[73] On 15 September, Ronaldo scored two free-kicks in a 5–2 away victory over Zürich, his first Champions League goals for Real.[74] He broke a Madrid club record when he scored in a league match against Villarreal and thus became the first ever player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.[
An ankle injury suffered on 10 October, while Ronaldo was on international duty with Portugal against Hungary, kept him out until 25 November, which in turn caused him to miss both of Madrid`s Champions League group stage matches against Milan. Ronaldo made his first post-injury start in a 1–0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on 29 November. On 6 December, he was sent off for the first time in his Madrid career in Madrid`s 4–2 victory against Almería, a match which also saw him miss a penalty. He was carded first for removing his shirt during a goal celebration, then for kicking out at an opponent three minutes later.[77]On 5 May 2010 Ronaldo scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick in an away game against Mallorca. Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaínscored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real`s highest scoring league duo in their history.
International career
Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1–0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003.[99]
Euro 2004
Ronaldo was called up for Euro 2004,[100] scoring in a 2–1 group stage
loss to eventual champions Greece[101] and in a 2–1 semi-final win over
the Netherlands.[102] He was named in the team of the tournament despite
finishing with only two goals.[103]He also represented Portugal at
the 2004 Summer Olympics.[104][105]
2006 World Cup
Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in
the European zone with seven goals, and scored his first World Cup goal
against Iran with a penalty kick.
During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo`s United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo`s decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney`s dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney`s infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.
The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,[1 and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.[110] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.[
Ronaldo was booed during Portugal`s semi-final defeat to France and missed out on the competition`s Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans. Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA`s Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany`s Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo`sPodolski, citing Ronaldo`s behaviour as a factor in the decision behaviour as a factor in the decision
Post-World Cup
One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007 This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture... [he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."
Euro 2008
Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal`s UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, behind Poland`s Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany. When Carlos Queiroz was named Portugal`s new coach in July 2008 he appointed Ronaldo as team captain.
2010 World Cup
On 15 June 2010, in Portugal`s opening World Cup match against Côte d`Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo`s yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected
Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal`s 7–0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June, which marked his first international goal in 16 months. Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the Round of 16.
No comments:
Post a Comment