Ronaldinho the team player

ByEurosport

Published 30/06/2006 at 10:54 GMT

Brazil meet France in a remake of the 1998 World Cup final on Saturday and gaucho star Ronaldinho insists he prefers passing than scoring. In any case, he'll have to be able to do both against les Bleus if he wants to reach the semi-finals for a second co

Ronaldinho has scored his fair share of goals, whether it is for Brazil or for his club Barcelona, with whom he found the back of the net 24 times in all competitions this season.

Nevertheless, the playmaking genius insists on the fact that he prefers delivering assists for his team-mates rather than bagging goals:

"I don't think about scoring goals but about helping my team to win," the Brazilian number ten said. "My job consists of making passes to strikers. I concentrate on that."

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FOOTBALL 2006 World Cup b-a Ronaldinho Brett Emerton

Image credit: EFE

Ronaldinho has disappointed since the beginning of the tournament. Despite his team's four consecutive wins, the Brazilian playmaker has failed to really impress. However there are still matches to be played and Ronnie will no doubt find his form.

To be fair, he had better, as a defeat to les Bleus would have dramatic consequences:

"As I often say: in Brazil, coming second is the same as coming last," he said. One can therefore imagine the major depression which would hit the country if the Selecao was ousted in the quarter-finals by Zizou and his acolytes.

The French captain was the hero of the 1998 final, scoring two first-half goals to lead France to their first World Cup success. Ronaldinho, who took over from Zidane as FIFA World Player of the Year, thinks very highly of the soon to be retired Real Madrid star:

FOOTBALL Zidane galería de fotos

Image credit: Imago

"I admire Zidane a lot for everything he has brought to football. My team members respect him too," Ronaldinho said. "He plays very well and off the pitch he's a good person. All that means it will be a big match, a very interesting one to play."

And a very interesting one to watch, no doubt...

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