Life in Brazil is not always a carnival or is it?
Last month speculation was rife in the footballing world that AC Milan and Brazilian maestro Ronaldinho was set to sensationally retire from the game next summer, which was denied by his club. At this time Ronaldinho’s form is no where near what it was back in 2005-2006. Since a very disappointing World cup in 2006 he has not been able to conjure up the same magic, with many reasons for this including the emergence of Lionel Messi at Barcelona basically forcing him out of the Camp Nou and injuries certainly not helping him. But is the fact he is Brazilian hindering the former World player of the year?
I only say this because there are many parallels with Ronaldinho and numerous compatriots such as Adriano, Romario, Edmundo and possibly the best Brazilian player of his generation Ronaldo.
Now all the above including Ronaldinho have been in trouble with their employers at one time or another for going to or not coming back from the Rio Carnival. They have all had their troubles with alcohol and all seemed to burn out at their peak.
Adriano had to be released from his contract with Inter in April after stating that he did not wish to return to Europe. Only last week he revealed that he would often turn up to training drunk after partying until the early hours of the morning, he is now trying to get himself back into the Brazilian squad while playing for Flamengo.
Romario also left Europe at the height of his powers aged only 29 to return to Brazil. He was often reprimanded by his teams for failing to turn up for training or just leaving halfway thru. He was also notorious for falling out with his coaches including Luiz Feilpe Scolari who left him out of the 2002 World Cup team after a disagreement.
Edmundo known as the ‘Animal’ was certainly one who liked to party. One party lead to animal welfare groups complain about Edmundo’s cruelty after pictures showed the ‘Animal’ giving a chimp a drink of beer. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for his part in a fatal car crash but he was only to spend his nights in jail continuing to play football during the day.
Ronaldo, a three times world player, has had a fantastic career marred by serious injuries but has not helped his cause with his partying attitudes. He reportedly had a clause in his Inter contract that stated he be allowed time off in January to return to Brazil to go to the carnival in Rio. He has always seemed to return from injuries over weight and since the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo the Brazilian one is now commonly known as ‘the fat Ronaldo’.
All these players have come from humble and impoverished backgrounds with football as their only way out of the slums. So they work extremely hard through out their young lives finally attaining the wealth which they crave but which is also their downfall as they take their eye off the ball and decide it is now time to enjoy themselves.
One current Brazilian superstar looks like he may follow them is Robinho but he along with Ronaldinho should look to Kaka as a player to emulate but they find it hard to compare with the Real Madrid man because of his middle/upper class background and his religious beliefs.
They should also beware of what could happen. Garrincha a A World Cup winner with Brazil in 1958 and 1962 died aged just 49 due to cirrhosis of the liver brought on by Alcoholism.
Lets hope that wont happen to any of the current crop.
Posted on October 11th, 2009 by scott
Filed under: Article
The difference with the Brazilians and everyone else is they can party/drink constantly and still get at least 10 years of being top class. If only we were brought up on beaches………just imagine how good the likes of Bob Malcolm and Charlie Adam could have been : )
Yeah they say the Scots gave football to Brazil, we may have given them a little bit more.
Hey there, fantastic blog page you’ll have. It all appears like we have now identical hobbies around Mallorca and even Gran Canaria or whole Spain? When you don’t mind, please allow me to invite you to look into the Mallorca and Spain Fan Portal Web-site I typically prefer to use. Wish you love like I was pleased with your blog Site and in any case I wish you a good day. Will returning soon enough, or perhaps view your own comment on my personal blog site far better? Best Regards from Gran Canaria