Best yet to come from Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho is one of the most famous sportsmen in the world, but the FC Barcelona star insists the reality of his life is far duller than it seems.

Birthday celebration
The Brazil forward was 26 last Tuesday but there was little time to celebrate as his team had a Primera División game against Getafe CF, which they won before a Saturday draw against Málaga CF. It was perhaps appropriate for a player who is infinitely more famous for his football than for any perceived glamorous lifestyle. "My life is so simple that it doesn't sell newspapers," he told uefa.com. "I honestly believe that most of my life is just the same as other people's and I think that is why nobody ever follows me home. I wake up in the morning and see a normal person in the mirror. I have breakfast with my friends, I have lunch, eat the same food. I do the same things you do."

Dream fulfilled
Not that the former Grêmio FBPA trainee is complaining. "I am doing exactly what I dreamt of doing when I was a boy, like being well known and being recognised in the streets," he said. "I used to go to training sessions when my brother was a player and think, 'This is what I want to be when I am older', and now I am that." Having left Grêmio for Paris Saint-Germain FC in 2001, Ronaldinho began to attract universal attention at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, scoring with a long-range free-kick against England in the quarter-finals before impressing in the 2-0 final defeat of Germany.

Measuring stick
The prospect of Brazil defending their trophy in Germany this summer has given Ronaldinho an opportunity to reflect on how far he has come in the last four years. "I am definitely more mature than I was at the last World Cup, although I still have things to learn," he said. The same, he hopes, is true of the Brazil team he regards as favourites to reclaim their crown. "I trust my Brazil team-mates to perform, so I would bet on us to win the World Cup again," he said. "I truly believe we have everything in our hands to enjoy a fantastic World Cup."

Present focus
In the meantime, Ronaldinho is chasing a first UEFA Champions League title with Barcelona as they take on SL Benfica in the quarter-finals this week. However, he will not set himself too many targets: "If you think too much about the future, you can forget what you have to do in the present. In a footballer's career things happen so fast. One year you are in one place and then it all changes. Bearing all that in mind, I try to live in the present and forget about the future. My planning goes year by year. That is the furthest I ever look ahead."

Living legend
However, he does admit to some ambitions. "I still want to win all the trophies I haven't won yet with Barcelona," he said. "And I also want to lift the cups I have already lifted with this club again and again. I want to win every tournament I play in, and go into the football history books forever."