There were a few brief moments when it seemed possible that Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldinho would finish his glittering career in Australia. It was the mid-2010s, a much simpler time for the code in this country, back when the sky was the limit: Western Sydney Wanderers had just won the AFC Champions League, the Socceroos prevailed at a home Asian Cup under Ange Postecoglou and the A-League was chugging along nicely, running off the residual fumes of the Alessandro Del Piero-Shinji Ono-Emile Heskey marquee experiment. Tim Cahill and Ronaldinho on Wednesday.
Credit: Louise Kennerley Ronaldinho, then 36, had just terminated his 18-month contract with Brazilian outfit Fluminense after just nine appearances in two months because he felt he was no longer up to standard. And so what does a global football legend do when they’ve made the self-assessment that they have nothing left to give? See if they can jag a deal in the A-League, of course. Feelers were put out, and negotiations apparently had between Ronaldinho’s brother and agent Roberto de Assis and representatives of Football Federation Australia , who were keen to find him an A-League club to boost their broadcast negotiations with Fox Sports.
Meanwhile, ambitious NPL clubs Wollongong Wolves and Hume City also wanted the World Cup, UEFA Champions League and Ballon d’Or winner for their respective round of 32 ties in what was then called the FFA Cup. Nothing happened. No agreements were reached, and Ronaldinho never .