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Ronaldo de Assis Moreira is better known
by his nickname of Ronaldinho, which means "little Ronaldo" and
was devised as a means of distinguishing him from his Brazilian
team-mate of the same name.
The Barcelona attacking midfielder is widely recognised at the
best player in the world and has taken out FIFA's World Player of
the Year award for the last two seasons, as well as winning last
year's FIFPro World Player of the Year and European Player of the
Year awards.
Ronaldinho is one of the most skilful players in world football,
possessing a stunning repertoire of trickery which can bamboozle
the most experienced defences.
He is also an expert at free kicks and scored an outrageous one
from 35 metres to knock England out of the 2002 World Cup.
He turned villain soon after, sent off for a tackle on Danny Mills
which ruled him of the semi-finals, but returned for Brazil's 2-0
grand final triumph over Germany.
Ronaldinho spent the early years of his career at Gremio (Brazil)
and Paris St Germain (France) before Barca beat Manchester United
for his signature in 2003.
In November last year Ronaldinho got a standing ovation from the
Madrid faithful after scoring two spectacular solo goals in a 3-0
demolition of fierce rivals Real.
Diego Maradona was the last player to get such rare acknowledgment
at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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