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RONALDINHO
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RONALDINHO WITH FC BARCELONA |
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 On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for £18
million. Originally Barcelona chairman Joan Laporta had promised
to bring David Beckham to the club, but following his transfer
to Real Madrid, Barcelona went into the run for Ronaldinho and
beat Manchester United to his signature. It was thought that a
failure between the English and French club over a fee was the
reason behind the deal falling through for Manchester United.
Ronaldinho is said to have signed with Barcelona instead of
Manchester United because of his friendship with former Nike
executive in Brazil, and then Barcelona vice-president in charge
of sports, Sandro Rosell. Ronaldinho's signing for Barcelona was
following in the footsteps of a number of illustrious fellow
countrymen who had enjoyed successful careers with the club,
including Evaristo, Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo.
Ronaldinho justified the purchase, leading Barcelona to a second-place
finish in La Liga during the 2003/04 season. Together with
Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Lionel Messi, Ludovic Giuly and Henrik
Larsson, he comprises part of an awesome strike force which
reaped the 2004/05 La Liga title for FC Barcelona. On December
20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year
ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy
Ronaldinho, with Barcelona having rejected a £60 million bid for
him by Chelsea, according to Sandro Rosell.
In June 2005, Rosell resigned from the Barcelona administration
following a bust-up with Joan Laporta, and it was feared that it
would spell the eventual exit of Ronaldinho as well. His
contract running to 2008, Ronaldinho was offered a contract
until 2014, netting him £85 million, which he rejected until he
on September 1, 2005 signed a two-year extension of his original
contract until 2010, with a clause of release, should a club pay
Barcelona £85 million for him.
On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing goals to help FC
Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the
Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. There he stole the ball from the
center and scored with remarkable breaks, luring in the process
most of Madrid players. After he scored his second goal of the
night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid faithfuls
gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which occurred last
when Diego Maradona was in Barcelona.
In 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of
the Year and the best striker in the UEFA Champions League
tournament of 2004/05. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win
the European Footballer of the Year Award. On December 19, 2005,
he was again named FIFA World Player of the Year with 956 points,
more than three times the 306 points of Chelsea's Frank Lampard
and 190 points of Barça teammate Samuel Eto'o. He was chosen for
the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January
2006. He received more votes than any other player in that team.
Over 1.5 million people participated in that vote.
Ronaldinho, on March 7, 2006 in the 2nd leg of the Champions
League at Camp Nou, scored a spectacular goal against Chelsea.
He received the ball from Eto'o outside the box, dribbled past
three defenders and edged past a fourth player, and hit the ball
hard and low past goalkeeper Petr Cech. The next day, in a press
conference, Ronaldinho expressed his happiness with Barcelona
and bashed speculations for a possible transfer to Chelsea: "I'm
very happy with Barça. I can't imagine being happier anywhere
else but with Barça. There isn't enough money to buy my
happiness. I see myself being here the rest of my life and I
hope to keep on bringing joy to the Barça fans".
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