BRAZIL icon Rivaldo has expressed his “concern and sadness” over the state of Ronaldinho – who remains locked in a Paraguay jail.
The 2005 Ballon d’Or winner recently celebrated his 40th birthday with a huge BBQ behind bars after being arrested for allegedly using a fake passport to enter the country.
Ronaldinho has expressed his ‘concern and sadness’ for fellow World Cup-winning Brazilian Ronaldinho, who remains in a Paraguay jail
He was all smiles in the photo but friends who have visited the ex-Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain hero say he is “sad”.
And Rivaldo, who won the 2002 World Cup alongside Ronaldinho, has called this period in his mate’s life a “dark chapter in his beautiful story”.
Betfair ambassador Rivaldo said: “I haven’t communicated with Ronaldinho since his arrest in Paraguay but I’ve been watching and reading about it with some concern and sadness as this is not good for his reputation and is dark chapter in his beautiful story.”
Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos both sent birthday wishes to their former team-mate but Rivaldo has chosen to view events from afar.
He continued: “He is an excellent person, joyful and loving with everyone and it’s tough to understand what exactly happened in this passport situation.
“From my side, I’m just cheering for him and hoping that all ends up fine, but I expect it’s very annoying to spend your birthday detained in a foreign country.
“I hope Ronaldinho can emerge stronger from all of this.”
Rivaldo also opened up on his pal’s incredible goal against England in the 2002 World Cup.
And he revealed that he did mean to lob Three Lions keeper David Seaman from all of 35 yards.
He said: “I remember well that match against England at World Cup 2002 in which we won 2-1.
“Ronaldinho gave a brilliant performance that day, setting up an excellent play and assisting me for our first goal. My goal was important for us, as we managed to equalise right before half-time.
“Then at the second half, he scored that famous goal from way outside the box that surprised David Seaman and all the world, me included. I never thought he could try such strike, but it worked perfectly.
“After the match, he told me that he knew that Seaman had that tendency to take one or two steps forward at free kicks and so he tried to surprise him.
“That match was particularly remarkable because Ronaldinho was sent off with half an hour to play and we had to fight hard to contain English pressure until the end.
“To score a goal from such a tough position, and with your right foot, is amazing because it would be more plausible for a lefty to do it.
“For Ronaldinho, though, there were no impossible tasks and it was a joy to watch him play and to share the pitch with him many times.”
For more from Betfair Ambassador Rivaldo head to www.betfair.com/rivaldo/ and to find out more about the new Betfair Exchange ‘How to Hub’ head to www.betfair.com/howtoexchange
Ronaldinho ‘to get six months in jail’ after ‘using a fake passport to enter Paraguay’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
