Ronaldinho News

MADRID, Spain (AP) _ Ronaldinho's muscle injury may be the least of his problems. The FC Barcelona midfielder has come under scrutiny after supposedly staying out late and breaking curfew, leading the Spanish media to doubt the legitimacy of the strain that will likely sideline him from the team's Spanish league game against Zaragoza on Wednesday. ``He spoke with the coach, who believed him,'' said Ronaldinho's brother and agent, Roberto de Assis. ``From here on, there's nothing more to ...

Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho scored one goal and set up two others Thursday as Spanish powerhouse Barcelona beat Mexico's Club America 4-0 to book a spot in the final of the Club World Cup. Ronaldinho gave the European champions a 3-0 lead in the 65th minute when he fired a right-foot blast into the top corner after Club America goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a superb save off a Ludovic Giuly shot. ...

Ernesto Chevanton's 78th-minute goal gave Sevilla a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid on Saturday and moved it into sole possession of second place in the Spanish league. David Beckham gave Madrid the lead in the 14th with a 25-yard free kick before Frederic Kanoute tied it four minutes later with his league-tying 11th goal of the campaign. Earlier, FC Barcelona posted a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad to secure the top spot in the standings before it ...

Ronaldinho will lead FC Barcelona at the Club World Cup. The Brazil playmaker was listed Tuesday on the Spanish League champion's roster for next month's tournament in Japan. The Club World Cup is a tournament for the continental champions of each of the six FIFA confederations. The European champions will be joined by Internacional (South America), America (CONCACAF), Al Ahly (Africa), Chonbuk Motors (Asia) and Auckland City (Oceania). Barcelona picked ...

Zinedine Zidane, Fabio Cannavaro and Ronaldinho are the finalists for FIFA's World Player of the Year award. The selection, announced Wednesday by soccer's world governing body, was made through voting by coaches and captains of national teams. Brazil's Marta, runner-up to 2005 winner Birgit Prinz of Germany, is among the women's finalists again this year. Her competition is U.S. captain Kristine Lilly and Renate Lingor of Germany. Christine Sinclair of ...

Ronaldinho scored his 50th and 51st Spanish league goals on Saturday to help FC Barcelona beat Villarreal 4-0 and establish a four-point lead in the standings. The Brazilian opened the scoring with a 35th-minute penalty and rounded off the defending champions' victory with a spectacular overhead kick just before the end for his league-leading 10th goal this season. Striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and midfielder Andres Iniesta also scored. ``It was the goal I dreamed about when I was young,'' Ronaldinho said ...

Spanish league leader FC Barcelona will look to Ronaldinho to surmount its injury crisis. The defending champion will lack three forwards _ Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola _ as well as midfielder Edmilson for Sunday's visit to Mallorca (GolTV, 1 p.m. ET). Eto'o, who will be out until February after damaging his right knee in September, has been joined by Messi, Saviola and Edmilson _ all injured in ...

Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and holder Ronaldinho were among the 50 nominees for the 2006 Golden Ball trophy. The list of nominees for the prestigious European player of the year award was published Tuesday by France Football magazine. There were 11 Frenchmen in the list including Henry and Zinedine Zidane, and seven members of Italy's World Cup-winning squad. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and captain Fabio Cannavaro were included, but defender Marco ...

Coach Dunga said Friday he was trying to reduce the pressure on Ronaldinho when he benched him for the start of Brazil's exhibition soccer game against Ecuador earlier in the week. ``It's tough, he has a big load on top of him,'' Dunga said after arriving in Brazil following the team's 2-1 win over Ecuador on Tuesday in Sweden. ``We have plans to take Ronaldinho out of the spotlight for ...

FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard isn't concerned about Ronaldinho's poor start to the season with the European champion. ``We've seen his performances drop but there's no reason to be worried,'' Rijkaard told Catalan radio station RAC 1 late Wednesday. ``We're dealing with it. He's doing what he can for the team and that's enough because he works for the team.'' The coach attributed Ronaldinho's slump to a lack of rest ...