Ronaldinho

Growing up, his idols included the World Cup winning stars; Rivelino (from 1970), Diego Maradona (from 1986), Romário (from 1994), and his two future international teammates Ronaldo and Rivaldo (which would form the attacking trio in Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning team).

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d'Or.

He is the only player ever to have won a World Cup, a Copa América, a Confederations Cup, a Champions League, a Copa Libertadores and a Ballon d'Or.

A global icon of the sport, Ronaldinho was renowned for his technical skills, creativity, dribbling ability and accuracy from free-kicks, his use of tricks, feints, no-look passes and overhead kicks, as well as his ability to score and create goals, all prominent characteristics of his early-age background playing futsal.

He is known by the nickname "O Bruxo" ("The Wizard").

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born on 21 March 1980 in the city of Porto Alegre, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

His mother, Miguelina Elói Assis dos Santos, was a salesperson who studied to become a nurse.

His father, João de Assis Moreira, was a shipyard worker and a footballer for the local club Esporte Clube Cruzeiro (not to be confused with the larger Cruzeiro Esporte Clube).

After Ronaldo'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.

Still, Roberto's career was ultimately cut short by injury.

It was in their new home where his father hit his head and drowned in the swimming pool when Ronaldo was eight.

Roberto has acted as his manager, while his sister Deisi has worked as his press coordinator.

Ronaldo's football skills began to blossom at the age of eight, and he was first given the nickname Ronaldinho – "inho" meaning small – 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.

Many of his signature moves originate from futsal, especially his ball control.

His first brush with the media came at the age of 13, when he scored all 23 goals in a 23–0 victory against a local team.

In a match-winning performance, Ronaldinho embarrassed Internacional's Brazilian legend and 1994 World Cup-winning captain Dunga, flicking the ball over his head on one occasion, and leaving him flat-footed in a mazy dribble on another.

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.

Ronaldinho made his career debut for Grêmio, in 1998.

He made his senior side debut during the 1998 Copa Libertadores.

After debuting with the Seleção by winning the 1999 Copa América, he was an integral part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning team, starring alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo in an attacking trio, and was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team.

1999 saw the emergence of the 18-year-old Ronaldinho, with 22 goals in 47 matches, and he put in headlining displays in derbies against Internacional, most notably on 20 June 1999 in the Rio Grande do Sul State Championship final.

At age 20, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain in France before signing for Barcelona in 2003.

In his second season with Barcelona, he won his first FIFA World Player of the Year award as Barcelona won the 2004–05 La Liga title.

The season that followed is considered one of the best in his career as he was integral in Barcelona winning the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, their first in fourteen years, and another La Liga title, giving Ronaldinho his first career double, receiving the 2005 Ballon d'Or and his second FIFA World Player of the Year in the process.

After scoring two solo goals in the first 2005–06 El Clásico, Ronaldinho became the second Barcelona player, after Diego Maradona in 1983, to receive a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Due to these successes, Ronaldinho is widely credited with changing the history of Barcelona.

Ronaldinho accumulated numerous other individual awards in his career: he was included in the UEFA Team of the Year and the FIFA World XI three times each, and was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year for the 2005–06 season and South American Footballer of the Year in 2013; in 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

As captain, he led his team to the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup title and was named man of the match in the final.

Ronaldinho is the father of a son, João, born on February 25, 2005, to Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes and named after his late father.

Following a second-place La Liga finish to Real Madrid in the 2006–07 season and an injury-plagued 2007–08 season, Ronaldinho suffered a decline in his performances—often put down to a decrease in dedication and focus having achieved so much in the sport—and departed Barcelona to join AC Milan, where he won the 2010–11 Serie A.

He gained Spanish citizenship in 2007.

He also captained the Brazil Olympic team to a bronze medal in men's football at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In 2009, Ronaldinho was voted World Player of the Decade 2000s, ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

In his international career with Brazil, Ronaldinho earned 97 caps and scored 33 goals and represented his country in two FIFA World Cups.

He returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo in 2011 and Atlético Mineiro a year later where he won the 2013 Copa Libertadores, before moving to Mexico to play for Querétaro and then back to Brazil to play for Fluminense in 2015.

In March 2018, Ronaldinho joined the Brazilian Republican Party, which has links to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

Ronaldinho endorsed presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election.

Ronaldinho's career began with the Grêmio youth squad.