11 Things You Didn’t Know About Ronaldinho Gaucho

Ronaldinho is a legendary player, a smiling genius who just loved to play football, he didn’t play for trophies, neither did he play to win every game nor play for money, he played just because he loves to play, That’s the reason he has a special place in people’s hearts.

1. Ronaldinho’s is the classic rags-to-riches tale.

Dinho was an outrageously talented boy from the Brazilian back streets who, despite his humble origins, conquers the footballing world. Ronaldinho was born in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil.  His mother, Dona Miguelina is a former salesperson who studied to become a nurse. His father, Joo de Assis Moreira, was a shipyard worker and footballer for local club He suffered a fatal heart attack in the family swimming pool when Ronaldinho was eight.  Ronaldinho’s football skills began to blossom at the age of 8. He developed an interest in futsal and beach football, which later expanded to organized football.

2. 23 goals scored in a single game.

He’s named Ronaldo,butduring his youth team days, he was nicknamed Ronaldinho, a nickname, which means little Ronaldo because he was smaller and younger than the other kids, smaller in age and size, but big in talent. In 1993, he helped his youth team win 23 nil by scoring all 23 of the goals

3. He lied to his teammates before El clasico in Madrid.

Before el clasico, Ronaldinho called each of his teammates one by one and told them that he was going to sign for Real Madrid and that it was a secret. On Match Day, the Brazilian spoke to the whole of the Locker Room saying, “I called all of you to tell you that I was going to leave, but you all kept that secret. Now I know that we are family. I’m going to stay here for a long time. So now let’s teach Real Madrid a lesson.” The result, Ronnie played the game of his life, and Barca won three-nil.

4. The first to reach a million views on YouTube.

In 2005, Nike launched the Joga Bonito campaign with Ronaldinho, a massive hit. It’s the first video in history to reach a million views on YouTube.

5.  Ronaldinho was applauded by Real Madrid fans

In 2005, FC Barcelona destroyed Real Madrid on their pitch of the Santiago Bernabéu. Ronaldinho was the driving force behind the three nil victory. He didn’t get booed after his second goal. Instead, the entire Madrid stadium gave him a standing ovation; even the rival fans applauded him.  Other than Maradona, he’s the only other player to receive this treatment.

6. He won all the major trophies.

His trophy cabinet is truly exceptional. World Cup, Confederations Cup, Copa America,  Champions League, Copa Libertadores and Ballon d’Or. He’s the only player in history to have won all six of these major trophies

7. Transfers to the Premier League in 2003

Ronaldinho was supposed to sign for Manchester United and replace David Beckham. But the Brazilian had promised Sandra Rosell that if he was elected President of FC Barcelona, he would sign for Barca. Rosell was elected and Ronnie kept his word.

8. He lent his image to condoms.

The man who loved to have sex before games lent his image to a brand of condoms. When he played for Atletico Mineiro, his club formed a partnership with the brand ‘Sex free’. The club’s logo and Ronaldinho appeared on their boxes.

9. Coca Cola dropped Him.

Ronaldinho was a brand ambassador for Coca Cola, earning $750,000 a year, but the contract was terminated in 2012 because he was caught drinking Pepsi during a press conference, a story which perfectly sums up Ronaldinho as unpredictable and charming.

10. Known for his tricks at the field

Ronaldinho’s style of play was spectacular. Renowned for his technique, dazzling dribbles, audacious strikes, overhead kicks, no-look passes, stealing the ball from the goalkeeper and free kicks, Ronaldinho is regarded to be one of the best players of his generation.

11. He once only had $7 in his bank account.

Although Ronaldinho planned on settling down and relaxing after retirement life after football, it hasn’t been all that sweet for Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho was found guilty of illegally building a house resulting in a $2.2 million fine. As he still hadn’t paid it, the court decided to get the money itself. But surprisingly Ronaldinho didn’t have more than $7 in his account. He went broke due to the fine issue to cover damages to the environment caused by the building of the Ronaldinho Gaucho Institute in Rio de Janeiro, which was erected to help underprivileged children and teenagers. Dinho’s brother and the institute were found guilty after being judged of having cut down parts of the native forest, while also carrying out land movement and drainage works without a valid license. The ex-Brazil international had his passport confiscated and state prosecutors are in the process of trying to gather the funds owed. Well, it could be a tale of rags to riches and back to rags, but it is not that bad.