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8/05/2008
Milan new boy Ronaldinho has given an honest insight into his troubles over the last two years as he looks to reinvent himself with the Rossoneri.
The former FIFA World Player of the Year was given a hysterical reception when he signed for Milan from Barcelona this summer.
But the Brazil international’s career had been in limbo after a miserable period at Barcelona that saw him lose form and suffer a series of injuries.
“Everyone has two faces – the happy face and the sad face,” Dinho told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I prefer the good side and to smile when I am around others. It doesn’t mean that I am a false person - I just don’t like to put my problems on other people.
“At the moment I am on duty with Brazil and I am here to try and help my teammates secure a historic triumph because we have never won at the Olympic Games. I need to be happy to succeed.”
The start of Dinho’s troubled period was the 2006 World Cup where Brazil fell to France at the quarter-final stage.
“It was a horrible experience for me and for the whole team,” he recalled.
“Before the tournament I was considered like Pelè. After we were eliminated I was criticised by everyone.
“Nobody asked me how I felt, but I was sad and disappointed by the defeat and the failure to give my nation what I wanted. But I learned so much.”
However, rather than bounce back, the former PSG man was kept off the pitch by injury problems.
“It was the worst time of my life,” Ronaldinho said. “I was injured and I couldn’t play or train.
“All I could do was watch TV and the more I watched games from the sofa the more miserable I became.
“I had never been out for so long and I didn’t know how to deal with it. Luckily my family stayed with me, protected me and gave me strength.”
Much of the criticism of Dinho in the Press centred on his weight problems and excesses off the field.
“What I didn’t understand is how it was possible to go from being an example to everyone to being like Diego Maradona at the centre of controversy,” he insisted.
“When I am on holiday I do what I want but during the season I behave like a committed professional.
“I have to live well, feel well and be a good athlete but I also have to enjoy life.
“I have sacrificed so much in life to get to this level and to stay there but on the other hand I have money and success.
“I am doing the job that I have always dreamed of and it is a pleasure. I couldn’t want anything else.”
Source: SPLF
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