ROME: When Barcelona beat Manchester United in the 28mil euro race to sign Ronaldinho from Paris Saint Germain in 2003, they received an instant return on their investment.
The Brazilian scored on his debut against Milan, the team he has now joined for 10mil euros less, in a pre-season match.
His signing was seen as a statement of intent by the Catalan club which featured a new-look team coached by former Dutch international Frank Rijkaard.
 So long: Brazil’s Ronaldinho shakes hands with a supporter after a meeting in Barcelona, Spain yesterday. Ronaldinho transferred from Barcelona to AC Milan, the Italian club announced on Tuesday, ending several days of negotiations in which the Brazil play maker appeared eager to avoid a move to Manchester City.
Barcelona finished second in Ronaldinho’s first season in La Liga behind Valencia, but a year later, with the Brazilian World Cup winner in scintillating form, and helped by Deco, Samuel Eto’o and Ludovic Giuly, the team won the league title for the first time since 1999.
Ronaldinho maintained his form into the next campaign and spurred on by Lionel Messi’s arrival, the pair helped Barcelona retain the Spanish title.
For good measure, he also won the World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
The Spaniards also became European champions for the first time since 1992, the second time in the club’s history.
Whilst Ronaldinho was subdued in the 2-1 final win over Arsenal, he had proved his worth in the earlier rounds, scoring twice in the quarter-final victory against Chelsea and setting up Giuly for the only goal of the semi-final against Milan.
Since then, however, the Porto Alegre native has failed to perform with consistency.
He was a disappointment at the 2006 World Cup, part of a Brazil team that blew hot and cold before being eliminated by France in the quarter-finals.
At club level, the 28-year-old has failed to shine, arguing continually with Rijkaard, to the extent that when the Dutchman announced that Ronaldinho was injured in March 2008, many thought it was his way of getting the Brazilian out of the way before he could sell him in the summer.
When Josep Guardiola replaced Rijkaard towards the end of last season, there was speculation that Ronaldinho may be rehabilitated at the Nou Camp.
But the ex-club captain promptly announced that the Brazilian was up for sale along with Eto’o and Deco.
There will be many who will be wondering how Ronaldinho will gel with Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.
PSG coach Luis Fernandez and Rijkaard both accused the Brazilian of spending too much time in nightclubs rather than on the training pitch.
At international level he has yet to recover from his anti-climactic performance at Germany 2006 and has seen new Milan team-mate Kaka usurp his position as international star.
He has also had questions raised about his fitness with a number of unflattering photos published in recent years.
However, the move to Italy gives him the chance to re-ignite his career and at 28 he will be confident of at least another five years at the top.
At the San Siro he should not have too many problems settling in as, along with Kaka, there are fellow Brazilians Dida, Emerson and Ronaldo, whilst hopes exist that he will be similarly inspired by 18-year-old Alexander Pato as he was by Messi at Barcelona. – AFP |
發表於 2008-7-17 08:19 PM
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