I truly believe in it. Throughout Ronaldinho's entire journey from a modest Porto Alegre background to stardom, it was Assis' job to make sure this bubble was never penetrated by any negativity. A former footballer himself, the man Ronaldinho usually calls "patrao" boss was a breakthrough star at Gremio, having lifted the Brazilian Cup in At the time, he was seen as a future international, but instead of waiting for a call-up, he accepted a lucrative offer from Sion in Switzerland, a decision that disrupted his rise and ultimately sealed his destiny as a journeyman.
In his late 20s, playing in Japan, he was already taking care of Ronaldinho's career from afar, turning down bids from PSV Eindhoven and trying to shield his brother from the same mistakes he made. Assis was not just an older brother to the smiling boy. After their father died in tragic circumstances, drowning in their swimming pool, Assis became the man of the house. The Assis Moreira family had moved into that luxurious home just a few months before their father's death.
The house had been a reward from Gremio following Assis' decision to sign a new contract and refuse a proposal from Torino. In order to put those memories behind, Assis decided to get rid of the pool a while later. Having gone through all that together, it should not come as a surprise that Ronaldinho trusts Assis blindly.
The main issue, however, is that Assis also has a reputation for being greedy, which has ended up causing trouble for the FIFA and world player of the year on multiple occasions. Despite being widely known as Ronaldinho Gaucho an adjective used to describe those born in the Rio Grande do Sul state , Ronaldinho is far from a hero in his hometown—quite the opposite in fact.
He can't even walk the streets of his hometown of Porto Alegre these days because of past rows with his boyhood club, Gremio. In both of them, Assis played a major role. Firstly, by taking Ronaldinho to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract in and leaving the Brazilian team without a single penny; and later, on Ronaldinho's return home 10 years later, when he encouraged a bidding war between Flamengo, Palmeiras and Gremio only to choose the Rio de Janeiro side in the end.
Vinicius Grissi, a football pundit for Bandeirantes and 98 FM, adds: "It's difficult to say that this unconditional trust was Ronaldinho's biggest mistake. After all, Assis' influence on his life has been enormous since his early playing days.
It's no secret that off the pitch Ronaldinho has never been someone who decided his own future. It has always been in somebody else's hands, especially his brother. Neymar and his dad, too, even though this one is slightly different—less emotionally dependent and more based on the complete trust in decisions. Right now, while still in custody in Paraguay, he's certainly got plenty of time to think about past mistakes from Room at the Palmaroga hotel.
Ronaldinho has endured a rough fall from grace, but at 40, he can still ensure that his football legacy is not fully destroyed by his post-retirement activities. His physical condition has always been very precarious. His talent though has never been in question. This marked the end of Ronaldinho's time in Europe and subsequently, in the highest strata of football competitions. He returned to his homeland and began playing for Flamengo in after being omitted from the Brazilian squad that participated in the FIFA World Cup.
The world got a short glimpse of his special talent once again as he led the club to three titles in two years and won the South American Footballer of the Year. But just two months later, following a nine-game run of disappointing performances, he reached an agreement with the club to terminate his contract. He respectfully told us he didn't feel he was able to perform as good as he wanted and that it was a bad situation for him.
He made a great gesture in saying he wasn't being the player he felt he could be right now. I'll never speak about whether or not he is retiring. That's not something you say about a player of his calibre. He was always spectacular, as player and person. Hence ended the career of one of the best players in football history, and it left open the question — could he have been the greatest player of all time had he just worked a little harder.
The fact that Ronaldinho scaled the highest peaks of footballing success without regularly putting in as much work in training as his colleagues is a testament to his talent — a talent which he had certainly honed with unknowable effort in his younger years, but one which he squandered once he established himself as the best in the world. If climbing to the top of the ladder is a difficult task, then staying there requires a Herculean effort.
In the hyper-competitive world of football, where superstars are made and destroyed each season, physical fitness is equally important as talent. Take Cristiano Ronaldo , for example — a footballer is supposed to peak at the age of 28, but dedication and hard work rewarded him with the best season of his illustrious career in at the age of Just as an incredible work ethic has allowed Ronaldo to dominate the footballing world, the lack of it is what caused the downfall of Ronaldinho.
Ronaldinho isn't the first sportsman to fall from such dizzying heights, and he certainly won't be the last. But unlike most of these cases, which are typically embroiled in controversies ranging from drug abuse to sex scandals, Ronaldinho's image is tainted only by the lack of a work ethic.
He is now serving the time in the same penitentiary as convicted murderers, thieves and other high-security inmates, though is being kept in a different part of the facility. Despite the ill-fated scenario Ronaldinho finds himself in, he has still been making headlines for his football powers, having taken part in a number of games within the prison.
Most notably, the man who won the Ballon d'Or in was hailed for his prowess during an exhibition futsal match and revelled along with prisoners who won themselves the prize of a suckling pig for dinner. Photos and video footage emerged from behind the confines of the prison walls showing Ronaldinho taking part in the games, with his trademark smile evident.
This is like FIFA street in real life. So, while he was being held in a part of the prison the Paraguayan Minister of the Interior Euclides Acevedo described as being "almost a hotel", he shared the prison yard with everyone. Behind the whimsical nature of the real-life 'Mean Machine' story, though, the brutal fact is that he was locked in a prison and his freedom was taken away from him, so it is not all sunshine and rainbows.
Indeed, former Paraguay international Nelson Cuevas has suggested that his friend "lost" his smile. Dinho Ronaldinho pic.
0コメント