Ronaldo de AssÃs Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre), is a football player from Brazil. He became a naturalized Spanish citizen in January 2007.Ronaldinho (pronounced [?onaw'd?i?u]), meaning "little Ronaldo", is better known in Brazil by the nickname Ronaldinho Gaúcho, in order to distinguish him from Ronaldo (already called Ronaldinho in Brazil). However, upon Ronaldo's move to Europe, he began to be known simply as 'Ronaldo', thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop Gaúcho and remain simply as 'Ronaldinho'.Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005), as well as the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award twice (2005, 2006).[3] He has downplayed suggestions that he is the best footballer in the world, telling FourFourTwo magazine, "I don't even feel I'm the best at Barça."Currently, he plays for AC Milan with a contract ending in 2011.
Ronaldinho was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. 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 home in Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was eight, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. This house was given to Roberto Assis as a present from Gremio to convince him to stay at the club. At the time, Torino were interested in him. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator. Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on February 25, 2005. João's mother is JanaÃna Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.
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