Hear
The expressions of Ronaldinho They caused as much perplexity as their later justification. One of the last world champions from Brazil, crowned in Japan and Korea 2002, generated a stir when his lapidary criticism to the selected from Brazil who will participate in the America Cup from United States.
An interview was uploaded on social networks with harsh concepts from the former Barcelona star about the team he directs Dorival Junior. Ronaldinho, disappointed with Brazil’s football level, announced that I wasn’t going to see him during the Copa América.
He described this team as “one of the worst in recent years.” The transcription of his opinions is as follows: “That’s all friends, For me it’s over. This is a sad moment for those who love Brazilian football. It’s getting hard to find the mood to watch the games. This is perhaps one of the worst teams in recent years, has no respectable leaders, just medium players mostly. I have followed football since I was a child, long before I thought about becoming a player, and I have never seen a situation as bad as this. There is a lack of love for the shirt, a lack of drive and most important of all: soccer. I repeat, our performance has been one of the worst things I have ever seen. It is a shame. Therefore, I hereby declare my abandonment. “I will not watch any Copa América match and I will not celebrate any victory.”
The tenor of Ronaldinho’s statements – ninth, with 33 goals, on the list of historical scorers of the canarinha – caught attention because it is not usually confrontational or open fronts for controversy. Some members of the team were also surprised and came out to respond. During the press conference he offered this Saturday afternoon, Raphinha He replied: “Ronaldinho’s statement? It surprises me. A few days ago he wrote to Vinicius to ask for tickets for our games.”
Weeks ago, Ronaldinho had congratulated Vinicius, Rodrygo and Militao, the three members of the Brazilian team, for obtaining the Champions League with Real Madrid.
As the hours went by, Brazilian media echoed another statement from Ronaldinho, in the sense that his words were part of an advertising campaign (Rexona is mentioned) precisely to try the opposite: expectation and support for the team. It is not clear what the procedure is to achieve that objective. It turned out that the discomfort in the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) It did not diminish even with Ronaldinho’s clarification, but in any case they were not going to issue an official statement on the subject.
Beyond this mess, Brazil does not enter the Copa América with the best predictions. After the 2022 World Cup, in which he was eliminated by Croatia in the quarterfinals, an interim position in technical direction began with Fernando Diniz, who simultaneously coached Fluminense, the last champion of the Copa Libertadores. All this while waiting for the supposed arrival of Carlo Ancelotti, with whom the leaders said they had a verbal agreement so that he would take over in the middle of this year, before the Copa América.
Diniz’s management was very poor in game and results. Brazil is sixth in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Argentina beat them for the first time as a visitor in a World Cup qualifier. At the same time, Ancelotti announced that he was renewing his contract with Real Madrid. Given the strong criticism from the press and the football community in general for the mismanagement, the CBF appointed as technical director Dorival Junior (62 years old), who spent his entire coaching career in Brazil and until the end of 2023 was in charge of San Pablo.
Dorival debuted last March, with a victory 1-0 over England in a friendly match in Wembley. The goal was scored by the youth Endrick, recently joined Real Madrid. Since then there were three other trials: 3-3 against Spain, 3-2 against Mexico and 1-1 with the United States. ANDThe debut in the Copa América It will be on Monday the 24th, before Costa Rica, without certainty about whether Ronaldinho will be one of the spectators.
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