Ronaldinho, this name connects with many wonderful memories. Playing and conquering Brazil, Spain, France and Italy with his mind-blowing skills and style of play, he has been a complete player over the years.
Ronaldinho’s career began with playing for Gremio in Brazil, where he was scouted by the agents from Paris and in 2001 he ended up signing for Paris Saint Germain.
Ronaldinho had a mixed kind of time at Paris seeing some highs and lows, high as he really found his true potential at the Paris based club and low as the team failed to qualify for major European championships.
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Ronaldinho had been in a controversy with then Paris Saint Germain manager Luis Fernandez, who claimed that the player was much focused on Parisian nightlife rather than football, but this claims always failed to be true as the player always found his form during the games.
At the end of the 2002-03 season he was scouted by many big clubs, but Barcelona was successful in getting his signature.
Ronaldinho’s arrival at Barcelona can be summed up as he brought rain to a desert. Barcelona had a disastrous 2003-03 season after finishing sixth in La Liga, their worst in the last 15 years from then and even failed to get pass through the round of 32 in Copa Del Rey.
In European Championships, the squad fared slightly better, reaching the Quarter Finals of UEFA Champions League in 2002-03.
After Ronaldinho’s arrival in 2003, Barcelona finished 2nd in the following La Liga season(2003-04). And after that there was no looking back for the club as they went on to become the domestic champion in 2004-05 season.
While staying at the club Ronaldinho won Ballon D’or and many other honours. At the end of the 2007-08 season he left Barcelona, looking forward to a new challenge with Milan.
Today he finally opened up about leaving Barça for Milan in an interview to Mundo Deportivo.
He said, “The decision to leave Barça was only mine.”
“I was lucky to help my family and my friends doing what I like, that was to play football.”
“Since I was 7 years I have always done the same, now I am living otherwise because there is life without football.”
He further added: “When I left Barça I had already realized all dreams, I needed new goals.”
During his time at Barcelona, he played a huge role in guiding Lionel Messi and helped in shaping him as a player. But he even regretted his move to Milan as he couldn’t play for a long time with Messi and has spoken about this in many interviews.
Today when asked about Messi his said, “When he arrived he was a little friend and now he’s a great friend. I was happy to assist his First goal.”
After moving out from Barcelona, he went on to play for many clubs in Brazil and Italy, while finally calling it a day at Fluminense. In February 2017, Ronaldinho returned to Barcelona after taking up the role of it’s ambassador.
