@FootynewsRonaldinho sat down with The Players Tribune and walked through a childhood memory that still hits hard. He’d come home from kicking a ball around, expecting his mom’s usual laugh, but she was crying. Roberto, his brother, pulled him into the bathroom and broke it to him plain: “There was an accident. Dad died.” At that age, it didn’t register. He kept wondering when his father would walk back through the door. The grief took years to surface, but the connection never left. His dad was the guy who drilled into him: “You will play soccer with creativity.” Be free, just play. He’d tell anyone who’d listen that Roberto was good but the younger one was special. During the week he worked a shipyard job, and on weekends he’d post up as a security guard at Grêmio’s stadium just to be near the pitch. Ronaldinho calls him a superhero. And he says every time he has a ball at his feet, his dad is with him.

@FootynewsRonaldinho sat down with The Players Tribune and walked through a childhood memory that still hits hard. He’d come home from kicking a ball around, expecting his mom’s usual laugh, but she was crying. Roberto, his brother, pulled him into the bathroom and broke it to him plain: “There was an accident. Dad died.” At that age, it didn’t register. He kept wondering when his father would walk back through the door. The grief took years to surface, but the connection never left. His dad was the guy who drilled into him: “You will play soccer with creativity.” Be free, just play. He’d tell anyone who’d listen that Roberto was good but the younger one was special. During the week he worked a shipyard job, and on weekends he’d post up as a security guard at Grêmio’s stadium just to be near the pitch. Ronaldinho calls him a superhero. And he says every time he has a ball at his feet, his dad is with him.