Ronaldinho, one of the most talented footballers of all time, currently finds himself in a spot of bother.The Brazilian legend, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2005 and lit up Spanish and European football with Barcelona, is in a Paraguayan prison awaiting trial after entering the country with a fake passport.Ronaldinho was in Paraguay to attend the launch of his new book ‘Genius of Life’, but was detained while in a hotel and is now in custody at the Agrupacion Especializada in Asunción.While the 39-year-old would obviously rather be anywhere but prison, there has been one very small silver lining.As reported earlier this week, the prison he’s staying in was set to stage a futsal tournament. Ronaldinho grew up playing futsal in Brazil and would still be absolutely incredible at it, you’d imagine.It was initially thought that the tournament would get underway next week; however, reports have emerged claiming that it’s already happened - and it won’t surprise you to hear that Ronaldinho was the star of the show.Per ABC.com in Paraguay and GlobeEsporte.com in Brazil, Ronaldinho helped his team to an 11-2 victory in the final of the tournament.It had been reported that Ronaldinho could only participate if he didn’t score any goals.
But these reports appear to have been wide of the mark because he chipped in with five goals and six assists in the rout.This was a Man of the Match performance from the South American icon.Here he in action…Somehow, a couple of short, grainy videos have also emerged of Ronaldinho in the tournament…And here he is celebrating alongside the trophy afterwards…
An additional prize, meanwhile, was a 16kg pig. Seriously…
It’s good to see Ronaldinho with a smile on his face during what is presumably an incredibly stressful time for the Brazilian.
GloboEsporte’s report adds that, according to people inside the prison, Ronaldinho is less dejected now and has been going out in the prison yard more.
He will return to court next Tuesday, and football fans everywhere will be praying that the legend is a free man again as soon as possible.