Hours after Ronaldinho took to Instagram to harshly criticize the team’s selection for the upcoming Copa América, the Brazilian football legend clarified that his words were part of an advertising campaign for a deodorant brand.
Ronaldinho posted on Saturday that Brazil will be “one of the worst teams in recent years” entering the Copa América, which starts on June 20. He added that he was boycotting watching the tournament and would not celebrate any of his country’s victories.
Later in the day, he backtracked on his original post, saying that those words came from a collection of posts from Brazilian fans on social media reacting to the Dorival Júnior squad and that his goal was to inspire fans to support the team supports.
“I would never give up Brazilian football,” Ronaldinho wrote. “And I would never say those things that you saw… In fact, these words came from real Brazilian fans, they are real comments that I saw on the Internet… Imagine hearing these messages before playing? It is not possible, motivation goes down… The support of the fans makes a huge difference for the player, I know what I’m saying.
“Guys, what our guys need right now is support. The more confidence we show, the more confidence they will have on the field.”
The follow-up post ended with him promoting a deodorant brand.
Ronaldinho knows what it’s like to deliver success to Brazilian fans, having won the 1999 Copa America and the 2002 World Cup.
Before the comments were clarified, a member of the current Brazil squad, Raphinha, spoke out in support of his teammates.
“It was a surprise not only for me, but for everyone,” said Raphinha. “I believe you must know me much better than I do. He never made such a statement. He always showed support. He surprised a lot of people.”
“I consider him an idol, a reference, and so do the others here in the team. Everyone considers him a reference. It was a blow for us. We don’t agree with it, I don’t agree with it. “
“I’m entering my third year with the team and all I see here is dedication, desire and pride to wear this shirt. I don’t agree with what was said about average players wearing the shirt. I I strongly disagree. Everyone here has the quality and merit to wear the shirt.
“We heard from Vinícius Júnior that nowadays Ronaldinho asked for a ticket to see our match, so it does not correspond to what was said. Now that I am here, I see the dedication of everyone every day.”
Brazil begins its Copa América program on June 24 against Costa Rica before completing the group stages against Paraguay and Colombia.
After the conclusion of the tournament next month, Brazil will resume World Cup qualifying in September with matches against Ecuador and Paraguay. They currently sit sixth in the CONMEBOL table, 8 points behind leaders Argentina, with twelve matches remaining.
