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Early and Personal Life: Porto Alegre

Ronaldinho was born in 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He came from a working class family, with his father working in a shipyard and playing football locally. When Ronaldinho was eight, his family moved to a nicer home that was gifted by his brother's football club after his career was cut short by injury. It was in this new home that his father drowned in the swimming pool. Ronaldinho began playing football at a young age and showed talent, getting his nickname "Ronaldinho" which means "little Ronaldo." He was identified as a rising star in 1997 at an under-17 tournament where he scored two goals.

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115 views1 page

Early and Personal Life: Porto Alegre

Ronaldinho was born in 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He came from a working class family, with his father working in a shipyard and playing football locally. When Ronaldinho was eight, his family moved to a nicer home that was gifted by his brother's football club after his career was cut short by injury. It was in this new home that his father drowned in the swimming pool. Ronaldinho began playing football at a young age and showed talent, getting his nickname "Ronaldinho" which means "little Ronaldo." He was identified as a rising star in 1997 at an under-17 tournament where he scored two goals.

Uploaded by

Syed Anas Sohail
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Early and personal life

Born in Porto Alegre in 1980, Ronaldinho moved into an affluent suburb at the age of eight

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born 21 March 1980 in the city of Porto Alegre, the state capital
of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. His mother, Dona Miguelina Elói Assis dos Santos (daughter of Enviro
Assis),[6] is a former salesperson who studied to become a nurse. His father, João de Assis Moreira,
was a shipyard worker and footballer for local club Esporte Clube Cruzeiro (not to be confused with
the larger Cruzeiro Esporte Clube).[7] 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, but 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.[8] Today, Roberto acts as his manager, while his sister Deisi works as his
press coordinator.[9][10]
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.[9] He developed an interest in futsal and beach football, which later
expanded to organized football.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13][14]
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).[15] Ronaldinho is the father of a son, João, born on 25 February 2005 to Brazilian
dancer Janaína Mendes and named after his late father.[16] He gained Spanish citizenship in
2007.[17] In March 2018 Ronaldinho joined the Brazilian Republican Party which has links to
the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.[18] Ronaldinho endorsed presidential candidate Jair
Bolsonaro in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election.[1

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