Copa America Final Quotes

Dunga was just what Brazil needed after Germany ‘06. It doesn’t make up for the World Cup, but it shows the team is heading in the right direction.

It also helps that it came against Argentina, no?

Argentina looked unstoppable for a while, and that’s what I kept hearing all around. I kept saying it was only because Dunga’s Brazil still had to play them.

And all the stuff about jogo bonito? To those people, I say keep the memory alive, definitely. Not even Dunga would turn down jogo bonito – as long as all the basic were still taken care of! It must be a process that starts with a solid defense and midfield. The jogo bonito will come back in time.

Kaka & Ronaldinho probably thought the team wouldn’t go anywhere without them. Haha! And then they win. But then again, same thing happened in ‘04. When you send in a “B team,” that team actually wins. When you send in the fat & happy “A team,” Roberto Carlos decides to check his socks and they lose in the quarterfinals.

From now on, only those truly motivated to play that given tournament should play.

My 2 cents.

Miguelinho

Posted from  United States

I couldn’t agree more. Young blood is always good. The other day me and my friends were debating about that. They almost killed me because I said I would leave Ronaldinho out of my team. I would put him back when I see he is really motivated. In 2006 he was the opposite of that.

I am so disappointed with Ronaldinho…..But then again, it might just be that he is a great club player but a mediocre one in the NT where he has been expected to be a leader. In Barcelona he is in a tailor-made team and that is not possible when a NT is being put together. Is it lack of motivation or is it lack of quality for a NT? Who knows, whatever the reason he should not be back in the team period. What for? benching Julio Baptista who is showing true grit and heart? Elano? Alves? The NT should be for those who not only want it but can perform in it. The rest, stay in your prima donna positions in your teams and enjoy the millions you earn and this includes Adriano, that other disappointing brat who behaves like an irresponsible teenager.

Posted from  United States

I think the reason Ronaldinho doesn’t perform as good with the NT as in at his club is the fact that the past 3 years the whole Barca team was Revolving around him.. I mean, he could be standing at his left forward position and you could see Gio cutting behind his back for as long as Ronaldinho wants him to.. you can see Ronaldinho sending that long cross to the top right corner and Guily sprints like a horse to catch it.. the team was flowing as if he controls them with a ps3 controller and they all looking for him and waiting for directions.. and that’s what put him top of the world..
On the other hand, the no 10 failed to reproduce his dominance in a National team of the magnitude of brazil, cuz he had to share the general role with the likes of Kaka, Ronaldo, adriano, and the old cafu and roberto carlos who didn’t seem to give a care about his presence..
I swear i can still remeber with all the sorrow what happened in the WC game against Ghana when 3 times we were in a 2 vs 1 position and 3 times the ball handler didn’t seem to share the ball with his teammate for an easy goal, one of those chances it was ronaldinho all by himself and cafu instead of passing the ball he sent it to the goallies chest and outside and he turned and fastened his captain belt… God this was far worse than when Carlos fastened his socks against france if you ask me..
i remember another time when cafu STRIPPED ronaldinho from the ball and drove to the Goal as if he was our play maker…!
How on earth do we want a star of the magnitude of ronaldinho to escel at his best when he is accompanied by a bunch of Trolls who all think they are the man.. add to this the then-fat Ronaldo and out of shape adriano being ronaldinho serve-to forwards.. they wouldn’t run for their lives then how do we expect them to run for Ronaldinho passes..!
what I’m saying is, don’t blame Ronaldinho for underperforming in the NT when he playes with such players.. Blame him for not Having the ability to Infuence his brazilian teammates the way he did to his barca..
In the end, it’s not his mistake that brazil is full of Joga Bonito’s…

Ali

Another thing I noticed with Ronaldinho: he’s best as a creative midfielder, but with more fame, people wanted him to score more goals. Eventually, he became confused on the role he should play.

When he was younger in Japan/Korea 2002, he was overjoyed to supply Rivaldo and Ronaldo. I remember one goal against China when he brought it up from the right, then saw Ronaldo and Rivaldo expecting the ball very close to the goal. Rivaldo was left open, so he passed it off and celebrated like there was no tomorrow. And then against England, he turned the tide when things were not going well by sprinting half the pitch and finding Rivaldo for the goal. Then of course the 38 meter free kick which no one can forget or take away from him.

But today – he seems more confused on the pitch. He doesn’t enjoy the game. He stops to complain to the refs more often. Some of this is just from aging – I guess it’s like any of us. Plus you throw in the money and fame, and I just don’t see the same Ronaldinho anymore.

Emotionally, he hasn’t handled it well. Especially for the national team. Because like Ali said – if at Barca there are players that look up to him, with the national team in ‘06, there were older players who didn’t hold him up in such light.

So here we have a guy who is best as a midfielder, but increasingly expects himself to score. First, he became more selfish so his passing suffered. Then, when he wanted to score, guys like Cafu weren’t looking for him as a finisher, because in 2002, that’s not what he was! So what happened? He became a player without a role in the team and it all spiraled down from there.

Until he has a heart-to-heart with Dunga, and thinks about his role, and tells his teammates what the role is… he just shouldn’t be back.

Miguelinho

Posted from  United States

Sure, some of the points you guys present are perfectly valid but, is he a professional or not? and more importantly is he a leader or not? Cafu and Roberto Carlos were the leaders in the last cup and it was only parreiras doing that allowed these two guys to turn the cup into a chase for records: Ronaldo’s top scorer and Cafu’s top caps.
I do agree that he is best in creative midfield but the biggest problem I see with him in the NT is that he has become lazy or uninterested and while we can hypothesize or feel bad for the guy well, the NT is not the place for him to address his emotional crap I mean, send him to a shrink or get him a pet but the NT is for people who are ready, able and willing to play not for people trying to figure out who or what they are.

Posted from  United States

Hey wait a minute guys. Brazil wins the Copa with their B team and everybody is saying ronnie shouldn’t be back. “Please,” I do not want to go back the World Cup debacle but in fairness to ronnie it wasn’t entirely his fault that Brazil didn’t do well. I will leave it at that. Ronaldinho doesn’t need to have a heart to heart woth Dunga to get back in this team. The same of Kaka. Incidentally my only concern for Brazil going forward is the strikers positon and Robinho seems to have taken care of that. With the return of Fred and also Adriano remember the guy is only 25 Brazil will be okay. However under Dunga they will not make the same mistake of trying to play too many attacking players thereby creating an unbalanced team like what happened in Germany

Posted from  United States

Josimars, I don’t view the Ronaldinho issue as a result of the copa win. I miss the Ronaldinho who played for the NT in 2002, he was a great midfielder who created goals for Rivaldo and Ronaldo but in Barcelona they turned him into something else, a figure that fits Barcelona but has been useless for Brazil so my question remains: Why shouldn’t we expect Ronaldinho or any other player for that matter to commit and earn his spot in the NT?

e back. “Please,” I do not want to go back the World Cup debacle but in fairness to ronnie it wasn’t entirely his fault that Brazil didn’t do well. I will leave it at that. Ronaldinho doesn’t need to have a heart to heart woth Dunga to get back in this team. The same of Kaka. Incidentally my only concern for Brazil going forward is the strikers positon and Robinho seems to have taken care of that. With the return of Fred and also Adriano remember the guy is only 25 Brazil will be okay. However under Dunga they will not make the same mistake of trying to play too many attacking players thereby creating an unbalanced team like what happened in Germany

Posted from  United States

My clear impression of Ronaldinho from the
World Cup was a player playing out of position
in a selfless effort to give his team the best chance of winning. In retrospect, an attitude
like Baggio’s in ‘94 and Ronaldo’s in 1998
would have been better, i.e., I am the best player in the world and I am going to try to carry the team whether I am sick, hurt or whatever.
His role in the first goal against England in
‘02 was an amazing piece of individual
brillance – he literally screwed a defender who
had an angle on him into the ground before
the easy set-up for Rivaldo. And, don’t
forget that Parreira had him playing forward
and walking to conserve his energy in the
first half against France last time – clearly
to me part of a 120-minute strategy by
Parreira that obviously fell apart. I think
the team would obviously be better with
Ronaldinho in place of Vagner Love however
it might shake out in terms of moving
players around. And I think that Kaka’s
oh so special little wife is much more of an
issue in terms of commitment and morale
than anything Dunga and Ronaldinho may have
to work out. Dunga’s mantra about the
players and the team being the voice of the poor in Brasil that is never heard otherwise
still fits Ronaldinho a lot better at this point than it does Kaka – in my opinion.

Posted from  United States

Trust me. Dunga will get him to play. You see Dunga is of the Scolari mould which is if you not playing how I want you to play you are not playing period.
Remember Rivaldo, prior to 2002 they said he was finished because he was going through a bad patch because he was going through alot of injuries and look what Scolari did with him. One of the most important attribute of a coach is the ability to motivate players. Look at what Dunga did with Josue and Julio Baptista, even Robinho Dunga told him not to dribble in the oponents half but to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. Look at the 3rd goal it was started by Robinho and he never held on to the ball unnecessarily througout the match.Dunga will do the same with Ronnie just give him time.

Regardless that Ronaldinho play or not, Brazil will always and will continue to develope new and better players. I always loved Brazil, although, I am Mexican, and I admired the model that Brazil represents not just for Latin American but for the world as well.