Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre), commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Italian Serie A side Milan and the Brazil national team.
Ronaldinho, Portuguese for “Little Ronaldo”, is known in Brazil by the nickname “Gaúcho”, in order to distinguish him from Ronaldo, who was already called “Ronaldinho” in Brazil. Ronaldo simply went by his first name upon his move to Europe, thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop the “Gaúcho” and remain simply as Ronaldinho.
Prior to his move to Milan, he played for Paris Saint-Germain, and FC Barcelona, with whom he won his first Champions League in 2006. He became a Spanish citizen in January 2007
Ronaldinho was born in city of Porto Alegre, capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil. He grew up in a considerably small town where the locals knew him as El Jefe, Portuguese for The Chief. His mother, Dona Miguelina, is a former salesperson who studied to become a nurse. His father, João, was a shipyard worker and footballer for local club Esporte Clube Cruzeiro (not to be confused with Cruzeiro EC).He suffered a fatal heart attack in the family swimming pool when Ronaldinho was eight. After Ronaldinho’s older brother, Roberto, signed with Grêmio, the family moved to a home in the more affluent Guarujá section of Porto Alegre, which was a gift from Grêmio to convince Roberto to stay at the club. Roberto’s career was ultimately cut short by injury.
Ronaldinho’s football skills began to blossom at an early age, and he was first given the nickname Ronaldinho because he was often the youngest and the smallest player in youth club matches.He developed an interest in futsal and beach football, which later expanded to organized football. His first brush with the media came at the age of thirteen, when he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team.Ronaldinho was identified as a rising star at the 1997 U-17 World Championship in Egypt, in which he scored two goals on penalty kicks.
Today Roberto acts as Ronaldinho’s manager, while his sister, Deisi, works as his press coordinator.Ronaldinho became a father for the first time on 25 February 2005, after Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes gave birth to their son, who was named João after Ronaldinho’s late father
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