Just hours after the legendary former Brazilian striker Ronaldinho Gaúcho, assured that he would not accompany his team in the Copa América in the United States because he believed that the team lacks “joy”, “grit” and “dedication”, the former World Cup champion said that it was not him who talked about his national team.
The former number 10 took to social media his explanation of the situation on a very heartfelt post, just over a week away from Brazil’s debut in the tournament.
“I would never abandon Brazilian football, ever. And I’d never say those things you see,” he posted on Instagram. “Actually, these words came from real Brazilian fans, they are real comments that I saw on the internet… Imagine listening to these messages before you play? Nope, motivation goes down… Fan support makes a huge difference to the player, I know what I’m talking about.”
He went on to talk about how support is the important thing a player can receive right now and then talked about an advertisement campaign that was rumored to be a part of his alleged message a day ago.
“Guys, what our boys need is support at this time. The more confidence we show, the more confidence they will have on the field. That’s why I joined Rexona in this movement to encourage the Cheer That Doesn’t Quit. We are asking everyone to send messages of support and confidence in CONMEBOL Copa AmericaTM. Use #TrazConfianca let’s give all the magical support of the Brazilian fan.”
Still, some backlash from fans has been posted and replied to him, in what has been a very controversial advertising campaign just a few days away from the start of the very important tournament.
He said some players were not up to the challenge
According to an interview on social media released on Friday, Ronaldinho did say that he decided not to watch any of his home country games in the Copa América, which will be played between June 20 and July 14 and everyone took personal his comments.
“Everything is missing, drive, joy… They need to play well, so I’m not going to watch any games,” he insisted before saying, “I’m going to abandon Brazil.” Although he believes that Vinícius Júnior deserves big recognition, he said “Things are not going well. Grit is lacking, dedication is lacking, everything is lacking.”
The former Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona player was interviewed on the YouTube channel ‘Cartoloucos’ and now reaction has been immediate to what has happened.