{"id":17738,"date":"2026-11-14T16:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T16:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/14\/ronaldinho-says-football-return-after-11-years-will-be-truly-beautiful-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T16:00:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T16:00:51","slug":"ronaldinho-says-football-return-after-11-years-will-be-truly-beautiful-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/14\/ronaldinho-says-football-return-after-11-years-will-be-truly-beautiful-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldinho says football return after 11 years will be \u2018truly beautiful\u2019 – Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho<\/a> has described his return to competitive football after 11 years away from the game as \u201ctruly beautiful\u201d ahead of his appearance for Italian third-tier club Ravenna on Sunday.\n<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old, who last played professionally for Fluminense in 2015, is set to feature for Ravenna in their local derby against Forli, marking an unexpected return to the pitch more than a decade after retiring.\n<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky Sports, the 2005 Ballon d\u2019Or winner said he was excited to be part of Ravenna\u2019s ambitions and looked forward to experiencing a special moment in his life.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cReturning to the pitch after so much time is truly beautiful. I\u2019m here to experience a special moment in my life,\u201d Ronaldinho said.\n<\/p>\n

Read Also: Ronaldinho to make comeback with Italian third-tier club Ravenna<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a few years since I stopped playing. I\u2019ve won everything I ever dreamed of.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m 46, and I\u2019ve experienced everything there is to experience in football. This is a completely different kind of opportunity. I want to be part of the dream held by my friends who work for Ravenna.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Ronaldinho embraces Ravenna\u2019s ambitious project<\/h3>\n

Ronaldinho also expressed his excitement about joining the club\u2019s project, describing the opportunity as a chance to contribute to an ambitious vision.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to have a great day. I\u2019m happy to be here for the start of this wonderful story,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president dreams of something big for Ravenna, and being a part of it makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ravenna president Ignazio Cipriani has set his sights on taking the club to Serie A for the first time in their history, with Ronaldinho\u2019s arrival expected to generate significant attention around the team.\n<\/p>\n

Ravenna fans prepare for Ronaldinho\u2019s return<\/h3>\n

The excitement surrounding the Brazilian\u2019s appearance has already been reflected in ticket demand. The club\u2019s Stadio Bruno Benelli, which normally accommodates around 5,000 spectators, is sold out, while an additional temporary stand with a capacity of 1,800 has been erected and named \u201cR10\u201d in his honour.\n<\/p>\n

Ravenna, who have not featured in Serie B since 2008, are second in their Serie C group, six points behind leaders Spezia.\n<\/p>\n

Brazilian targets 300th career goal<\/h3>\n

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain playmaker will also have an opportunity to chase a personal milestone, with his career goal tally standing at 299. He will be hoping to reach the 300-goal mark during his return.\n<\/p>\n

Ronaldinho\u2019s return comes after an eventful period away from professional football. The Brazilian spent time in a Paraguayan prison in 2020 after entering the country with a false passport, although he famously featured in a prison futsal match during his detention.<\/p>\n

While his appearance for Ravenna has attracted considerable attention as a marketing initiative, Cipriani believes the move can help raise the club\u2019s profile and support its long-term ambition of reaching Italy\u2019s top flight.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-term goal is to get Ravenna promoted to Serie A,\u201d the club president said.<\/p>\n

\n

Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnthony Nlebem<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Head of Sports at BusinessDay Media, a seasoned Digital Content Producer, and FIFA\/CAF Accredited Journalist with over a decade of sports reporting.Has a deep understanding of the Nigerian and global sports landscape and skills in delivering comprehensive and insightful sports content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source: <\/p>\n

Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho has described his return to competitive football after 11 years away from the game as \u201ctruly beautiful\u201d ahead of his appearance for Italian third-tier club Ravenna… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}