Rebutting Brazilian legend Ronaldinho’s verbal attack on the current national team as “one of the worst teams in recent years,” Barcelona and Brazilian winger Raphinha expressed his disagreement.
In a social media post, the 2005 Ballon d’Or winner expressed his frustration, stating, “That’s it folks, I’ve had enough. This is a sad moment for those who love Brazilian soccer. It’s getting hard to find the spirit to watch the games.”
However, sports journalist Fabrizio Romano shared Raphinha’s response questioning the authenticity of Ronaldinho’s critique. Raphinha said, “Ronaldinho’s statement? I don’t know if that was an adv (advertisement) or not but… few days ago, I’m told he asked Vini Jr for tickets to come see our games (laughs).”
The 27-year-old winger continued, “In any case, I was surprised and I don’t agree with his statement.”
Ronaldinho did not mince words with his assessment of the current team, mentioning, “This is perhaps one of the worst teams in recent years, it has no respectable leaders, only average players for the majority.”
The former Barcelona and AC Milan star expressed his disappointment, stating, “I’ve been following football since I was a kid, long before I thought about becoming a player, and I’ve never seen a situation as bad as this. Lack of love in the shirt, lack of grit and the most important of all: football.”
Ronaldinho also announced, “I’ll repeat, our performance has been one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Such a shame. I therefore declare my resignation. I will not watch any CONMEBOL Copa America game, nor celebrate any victory.”
His scathing remarks came following Brazil’s recent 1-1 draw against the USA in a friendly ahead of the CONMEBOL Copa America, where they will face Costa Rica on June 25th.
Ronaldinho, a member of the legendary 2002 World Cup-winning squad for Brazil, remains vocal about the current state of Brazilian football.