By Agency Reporters
Brazilian football star, Ronaldinho, has signed a two-year deal with Queretaro, a Mexican first division club.
The 34-year-old, who has also played for Paris Saint-Germain and Milan, became a free agent in July after cancelling his contract with the Brazilian club, Atlético Mineiro.
A statement issued by his new Mexican club stated, “We are very pleased to add to our ranks a player who has excelled in international football; a world champion in 2002; and World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
“We hope the fans of our city and around the country join in this celebration of having Ronaldinho as a Gallos who will contribute his experience and expertise to further strengthen this great team.”
Queretaro, coached by a former Mexico defender Ignacio Ambriz, is in the eighth position in the Mexican league, Liga MX, after seven matches in the championship.
Ronaldinho, who was linked with numerous clubs around the world, said he would wear the number 49 shirt in Mexico as it has always been his lucky number.
He announced on his Twitter page, “I’ve always been received with affection in Mexico – I am very motivated to represent Queretaro.”
Ronaldinho’s style of play
He is regarded as being one of the most skillful players of his generation. In fact, a U.S.-based global cable and satellite television channel, ESPN, once described him as: skillful by nature, unparalleled in tricks, and wonderful with the ball at his feet.
That is not the end, he was also described as one of the coolest players in pressure situations, fast, brash, skillful, tricky, and an uninhibited playmaker who provides a mix of goals, assists, skills and a large repertoire of crafty moves.
Former Portugal midfielder, Rui Costa, has said of him, “There are not many players who can offer goalscoring passes like he can. He is just marvellous. He is a rare case of an assist man who can provide the ball from anywhere.”
He is also one of the players who has perfected the “elastico move,” also known as the “flip flap.” This is a dribbling move in football, used to fool a defensive player into thinking the offensive player, when he is in possession of the ball, is going to move in a direction he does not intend to move in.
Players perform it by using the exterior of their dominant foot to push the ball towards their dominant side, then quickly move the dominant foot around the ball and uses its interior to push the ball to their non-dominant side. The move was invented by the Japanese-Brazilian football player Sérgio Echigo.
Outside football
Ronaldinho has had endorsements with many companies, including Nike, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, EA Sports, Gatorade and Danone.
One of the world’s highest paid players, in 2006 alone, he earned over $19m (about N3bn) from endorsements. Having endorsed Pepsi for much of his career and appeared in commercials with David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho signed a deal with Coca-Cola in 2011, which was terminated in July 2012 after he was caught sipping a Pepsi in a news conference.
Ronaldinho features in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series, appearing in the cover of FIFA Football 2004, FIFA 06, FIFA 07, FIFA 08 and FIFA 09. At the beginning of his career, he signed a lucrative 10-year deal with American sportswear company, Nike.
In 2011, Ronaldinho was recruited by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to help promote awareness among young people of the disease and how to avoid it.
In 2012, two Brazilian entomologists named a new species of bee from Brazil, Eulaema quadragintanovem. ‘Quadraginta novem’ means forty-nine, the favourite number of Ronaldinho’s jersey. He chose the number ‘49’ as homage to his mother who was born in 1949. [eap_ad_1] Awards
A rare player in football history, Ronaldinho has won the following awards, among others:
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball in 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe in 1999 Rio Grande do Sul State Championship Top Scorer in 1999 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament Top Scorer in 2000 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 2002 Among FIFA’s 100 list La Liga Ibero-American Player of the Year in 2004 FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Ball in 2005 World Soccer Magazine World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005 Ballon d’Or in 2005 Onze d’Or (1) in 2005 UEFA Club Best Forward in the 2004/2005 football season UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in the 2005/2006 season UEFA Team of the Year thrice ESM Team of the Year thrice Don Balón Award twice FIFPro World Player of the Year in 2005 FIFPro World XI thrice Golden Foot in 2009 Bola de Ouro in 2012 South American Footballer of the Year in 2013
