Ronaldinho CHARACTERISTICS

Skilful, agile, extrovert, fast, inspired, magical. That's Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, known by the nickname of 'Ronaldinho Gaucho'. The Brazilian star grew up with a football glued to his feet in the heart of a family with strong footballing traditions, where both his father and his brother have been successful players.
Ronaldinho's greatest assets are speed and boundless technical skills. His natural position is behind the striker though with the ball at his feet he moves well anywhere in the attack. Although he is not principally a goal scorer, his outstanding ability enables him to score from the most unlikely situations.
Indeed, his reserves of tricks and dribbling skills seem to be inexhaustible and the fans are constantly surprised by his range of seemingly impossible moves. His combinations with the rest of his team mates in attack increase the team's attacking potential enormously.
He is also an outstanding practitioner of the free kick, with the ability to curve the ball around the defensive wall and place the ball in any part of the goal beyond the keeper's reach.

Ronaldinho Business

* In December 2005, Ronaldinho and Mauricio de Sousa, a famous Brazilian comic book author, announced the creation of cartoon characters based on Ronaldinho, his brother and his mother. In the UK, the comic is published exclusively in children's football magazine, KiCK!, while in Spain it is being published by Panini Comics and in Greece by Compupress.

* Ronaldinho appears in advertising campaigns for international companies Nike, Pepsi, and Lenovo, as well as at least eight brands in Brazil, including Kibon.
* Ronaldinho appears on the front cover of Electronic Arts game FIFA Soccer 06 along with Wayne Rooney.

* He has surpassed David Beckham as the most marketable player in the world, generating $57.8m (£30.8m) annually.

* Despite passing David Beckham as the most marketable player in the world, Ronaldinho still trails Beckham in estimated yearly income.

Ronaldinho Personal life

Ronaldinho was born in Vila Nova, a poor suburb of Porto Alegre, Brazil. He was the youngest of three children. Ronaldinho's mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and footballer for Cruzeiro. The family moved to a more affluent district of Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was 8, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator.[3][4] Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on 25 February, 2005. João's mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.[5]

In his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after a 23 goal flurry against a local team, at just 13 years of age.[2] His reputation as a footballer was built up through his childhood, particularly since he was identified as a rising star at the Egypt 1997 under-17 world championship.[6] He scored two goals in the tournament, both penalty kicks.[7]

He is a huge fan of Brazilian music, and occasionally plays the drums and sings with friends in Barcelona.

Brazil Uses Comics and Ronaldinho to Fight Drugs

At yesterday's, June 21, opening ceremony of the 8th National Anti-Drug Week, in the Planalto Palace, in Brazilian capital Brasília, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva commented that the government should not be a guardian but, rather, a facilitator of actions to combat drug use.

He underscored that society and government should unite in the campaign to prevent drug use.

One of the government's new drug prevention programs in schools is "Say Yes to Life," which consists in the distribution of primers with stories and games based on the popular comic book characters from Mônica's Gang and a new character, the soccer hero, Ronaldinho Gaúcho.

The primers, which contain messages about the harm caused by drugs, will be distributed in public schools around the country.

The Ministry of Education, the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD), and the University of Brasília (UnB) plan to train approximately 20,000 public school teachers by the end of the year to deal with the drug issue in the classroom.