Ronaldinho celebrated his unofficial return to the football field on Sunday. The Brazilian technician, who is now 42 years old, played in the Kings League with Porcinos FC and refused to participate in the shoot-outs in the final phase because he then ‘had to run’. The Kings League is an alternative competition, organized by Gerard Piqué, in which twelve teams play against each other.
The rules differ from ‘regular’ football, as seven against seven is played on a small field and substitutions are allowed constantly. In addition, you end up on the penalty bench after a yellow card, teams have to make VAR decisions themselves and there are shoot-outs instead of penalty kicks in the event of a draw. That means you don’t shoot from a certain point, but have to run a bit with the ball and you have a certain number of seconds to beat the keeper. However, Ronaldinho was not interested in that.
?? Le explican a Ronaldinho como funciona el penalti desde el centro del campo en la @KingsLeague
?? “Que salga otro, yo no voy a estar corriendo, tú estás loco”
Es unico.pic.twitter.com/hqD72wYyS3
— Sportyou (@SportYou) February 27, 2023
The Brazilian star played for Porcinos FC and saw that the game with Pio FC ended in a draw. During the game he showed that he still had ball control, but was unable to make the difference. When Ronaldinho was told how the shoot-outs would go, he left the field. “You are crazy,” the former Barcelona superstar told the referee. “I’m not going to run, am I? Leave that to the others.” Ronaldinho’s teammates failed to win the series.
During his active career, Ronaldo celebrated the Assis Moreira, as his full name is, mainly successes with Barcelona. As a player of the Catalans, he won the Ballon d’Or in 2005 and won the Champions League in 2006. Ronaldinho also played in Europe for Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan and defended the colors of Grêmio, Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro and Fluminense in his homeland. In the 2014/15 season, the stylish Brazilian also played 29 matches for the Mexican Querétaro.