Ronaldinho started playing football on the beaches of Brazil, playing futsal in Brazil. Making a name for himself as the top scorer in netball under-17 world championship in Egypt, Ronaldinho began his professional career at Grêmio, and played there from 1998-2001. In his Brazilian national team debut on June 26, 1999, he scored his first international goal, against Venezuela, to win the Copa América. To date, he has won 62 caps for Brazil, scoring 27 goals.
In 2003, Ronaldinho made it known he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for European cups. That set off a bidding war among the elite clubs for his services. On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for 27 million Euro, beating Manchester United to his signature. Ronaldinho justified their purchase, leading them to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 03/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Ludovic Giuly, Lionel Messi and Henrik Larsson, he comprises part of an awesome strike force which has already reaped the 04/05 La Liga title for FC Barcelona
On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year over Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko. On June 29, 2005, Ronaldinho played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad which won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, in a 4-1 victory over Argentina. Pelé named Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004. In 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best Striker in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/2005. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the European Footballer of the Year Award.
