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Player of the Decade
RONALDINHO
Icon…Ronaldinho graced the cover on multiple occasions The “Dinho” question
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Ronaldo de Assis onaldo de Assis Mo More reira, betteira, bet r known as r known as Ronaldinho, is naldinho, is Wo Wor l r ld Soccer’d Soccer’s s Player of the Decade. BasedPlayer of the Decade. Based on the votes cast by readers in the on the votes cast by readers in the ten annual votes between 2000 and 2009, the Brazilian – who was our World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005 – is the outstanding performer of the past ten years.
Ronaldinho finished ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as other winners of the individual award, including Michael Owen, Pavel Nedved and Fabio Cannavaro.
The unique accolade, an award predominantly for his superhuman efforts for Barcelona, is a far cry from his current situation in Italy. But is Ronaldinho finally about to deliver again?
When the Brazilian ace was formally “presented” to the Milan faithful last year, he was greeted at the San Siro like some sort of all-conquering hero, wooed by pulsating samba rhythms, a firework display and a 30,000-strong crowd.
Eighteen months later, those same Milan supporters might be entitled to ask themselves if he was worth all the fuss. Even no less a figure than Pier Silvio Berlusconi – son of the prime minister and the club’s owner, Silvio Berlusconi – recently criticised the club’s estimated £16 million purchase of Ronaldinho from Barcelona.
“If it had been up to me, I would have gone down another, more long-term road rather than buying a player for the immediate short term,” Berlusconi junior told reporters during a TV business fair in Monte Carlo in November, in reference to “Il Dentone”(the big toothy one).
When Brazil coach Dunga left Ronaldinho out of the squad for the World Cup qualifiers last autumn, there were those even willing to speculate this was the end of the international road for him.
Unconfirmed sources told us that a dejected “Dinho” was even thinking of chucking it all in. He had had enough. Dunga, meanwhile, merely urged people to leave the player alone and allow him to regain his best form.
Which, curiously, is what he appears
Samba style… celebrating a goal
to have done at the end of 2009, when there were tantalising indications that perhaps, just perhaps, the former World Player of the Year might still be capable of getting back up there. As Milan have switched to a more attacking line-up (Alexandre Pato-Clarence SeedorfRonaldinho playing behind Marco Borriello), Ronaldinho has come up with a variety of glorious assists for either compatriot Pato or Borriello.
Even on a disappointing night which saw Milan held 1-1 in the Champions League by Marseille, Ronaldinho was arguably the best news of the game for Milan. As the former European champions struggled to contain a determined Marseille in the second half, Ronaldinho was noticeable not only for the quality of his play but also, unusually for him, for the enthusiasm with which he covered and chased back. At one point he was seen excitedly urging the San Siro faithful to get behind the team.
If owner Berlusconi had written the script, that is how it would have gone.
As far as the powers that be at Milan are concerned, this just has to be Ronaldinho’s season. Last summer, of course, he may well have served as
a pawn in the chess-war of neverending rivalry that underlines all relations between Milan and city cousins Inter. He tended to look like Milan’s answer to the bold move which a month earlier had seen Inter hire the “Special One”, former Porto and Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho.
Now in this post-Kaka, post-Paolo Maldini, post-Carlo Ancelotti campaign, Milan badly need “Dinho” to do the business out there on the pitch rather than on the transfer market. Media tycoon Berlusconi has always been
a huge fan, believing that Ronaldinho can write new chapters in Milan’s history by reproducing the sort of form which saw him win the Wor ld Soccer World Player of the Year, FIFA Player of Year and European Player of the Year awards, not to mention the Champions League title, during his five seasons (from 2003 to 2008) with Barcelona. By the end of last season, beset by a series of niggling injuries and regularly consigned to the bench by Ancelotti, there was little sign of such a revival for Ronaldinho. The season had begun well with him picking the best possible match to score his first Serie A goal for Milan: namely, a winning header against Inter in the first derby of last season. But that perfect start proved to be a mirage and, to a large extent, it was all downhill from then on. It may well be that the change of coach at Milan has proved beneficial for Ronaldinho. When he says that it is easy to work with the new man in charge – compatriot Leonardo – one tends to believe him, if for nothing else because the two men speak the same language: both literally and also in terms of their football philosophies. There seems little Now in this post-Kaka, post-Paolo Maldini, post-Carlo Ancelotti campaign, Milan badly need “Dinho” to do the business out there on the pitch rather than on the transfer market
doubt, too, that Leonardo has put his own neck on the line by investing in a Ronaldinho revival – something that may just be beginning to pay a dividend.
“I find it really difficult to be stuck on the bench,” says Ronaldinho. “I’m glad only when I get a chance to do the thing I like best – to play. I was unhappy but now I’m enjoying my football again.”
Some Milanello observers also point to his more professional lifestyle. In other words, these days Ronaldinho spends much more time on the training pitch than on the dance floor.
Those observations may be a trifle unkind but it was significant to hear an old Milan warrior like Franco Baresi recently highlight Ronaldinho as the key figure in an overall Milan seasonal watershed. “Milan’s seasonal start was not easy but the team looks to me to have refound morale, enthusiasm and self-belief, starting with Ronaldinho,” Baresi observed.
Milan fans will be hoping he is right. They will be hoping that at 29 he can climb back to where he once was, right at the very top of the greasy pole of world acclaim.
Top 30 Players of the 2000s
Player Country
1) Ronaldinho Brazil
2) Lionel Messi
Argentina 3) Cristiano Ronaldo Por tugal 4) Thierry Henry 5) Kaka France Brazil
Points 781 759 708 619 567
6) Fabio Cannavaro Italy
401
7) Pavel Nedved Czech Republic 394
8) Michael Owen England
9) Luis Figo
Por tugal 10) Zinedine Zidane France
330 290 270
Top of the pile… Ronaldinho won the vote based on his time at Barca
11) Raul 12) Ronaldo
Spain Brazil 13) Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine 14) Andres Iniesta Spain 15) Michael Ballack Germany 16) Xavi Spain
17) Rivaldo
Brazil 18) Fernando Torres Spain 19=) Samuel Eto’o Cameroon 19=) Frank Lampard England
High finish…but Thierry Henry is the only player in the top ten not to win our award 261 260 230 215 180 163 150 149 146 146
21) Steven Gerrard England 22) Deco Por tugal 23) Francesco Totti Italy 24) Ruud van Nistelrooy Netherlands 25) Oliver Kahn Germany
26) Paolo Maldini Italy
27) Didier Drogba
Ivory Coast 28) Juan Roman Riquelme Argentina 29) Adriano Brazil
