Ronaldinho Officially Retires from Football – 3 Years After Last Touching a Ball

The iconic Brazilian player that lit up the world with his flair on the pitch has finally announced that he’s hanging up his boots from an illustrious football career that saw him win all the biggest trophies the game has to offer. According to online sportsbook news, the last time Ronaldinho played professional football was in early 2015 – very briefly for Fluminense - so the news about his retirement does come a little late – but considering he hasn’t played in three years it’s not much of a surprise.

Won all the biggest trophies with the national side

Brazil won the 2002 World Cup with Ronaldinho in their side as he proved to be an indispensable member of the squad in that period; perhaps he’s most famously remembered during that tournament for scoring an incredible long-range free kick against England in the quarter-finals as Brazil went on to lift their fifth World Cup title. This was Ronaldinho’s second piece of silverware with Brazil – and the most important one – after winning the Copa America three years earlier.

The skilful forward was in and out of the national side after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, as he subsequently struggled for form with him ultimately retiring from international duty in 2013, after being told he would likely not be picked for the 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup held in his homeland. Nonetheless, Brazilians – who refer to him as Ronaldinho Gaucho – rank him as one of their best players in history to have worn the famous yellow shirt.

Ronaldinho is a prime example of “The Brazilian Factor”

Ever heard of the Brazilian Factor? Well, maybe you don’t know the phenomenon by name, but you probably know that there’s an unofficial curve trajectory that many Brazilian superstars fall susceptible to. It’s quite common for Brazilian footballers to enjoy superb form that makes people believe they’re gods on Earth playing with the ball just for fun, however their fantastic performances last for only a few seasons, and then immediately after they suffer an extremely sharp drop that almost never sees them recover and be the deity-like players they were before.

Ronaldo, Kaka, Adriano, Robinho, Pato and other Brazilian stars have all experienced the Brazilian Factor, and Ronaldinho was no exception to it. He reached his peak with Barcelona in 2006 – at the age of 26 – when they won the Spanish league title and then the Champions League in Paris against Arsenal. Despite continuing to put in good performances every now and then after that triumphant year, Ronaldinho just didn’t have that impact on the pitch anymore, according to online sportsbooks in Brazil.



He was always known as a player for big games, but that was exactly the problem with him; he almost never put in the same effort when playing against lower sides as he did when facing big clubs. But Ronaldinho’s five-year stay at the Nou Camp were perhaps the most fruitful years of his career, not just for winning La Liga twice (2004/05 and 2005/06) and the historic Champions League (2005/06), but also for showcasing god-like talent that wasn’t presented to the world before his time. He put a smile on people’s faces every time he graced the ball, unfortunately that didn’t last very long. But that’s the curse of the Brazilian Factor – the good comes with the bad.