Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...

), commonly known as Ronaldinho (ʁonawˈdʒĩɲu) or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian footballer who plays for Flamengo

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo , also known as Flamengo and familiarly as Mengão, is a Brazilian sports club based in the Flamengo bairro, Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro, best known for its professional football team...

 and the Brazilian national team

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

 as an attacking midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year

FIFA World Player of the Year

The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award given annually to the male and female player who were thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams...

, awarded to the best player over the year. He won the award in both 2004 and 2005.

"Ronaldinho," the diminutive and term of endearment

Term of endearment

A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address and/or describe a person, animal or inanimate object for which the speaker feels love or affection...

 for "Ronaldo," is accompanied in Brazilian usage by the nickname "Gaúcho

Gaucho

Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...

," in order to distinguish him from fellow footballer and countryman Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...

, who was known as "Ronaldinho" in Brazil beforehand.