RAVENNA (The Thursday Times) — Brazil great Ronaldinho will start his first competitive match in more than 11 years on Sunday, when Ravenna host local rivals Forli in Italy’s third division, the club’s coach has said.
“He will play from the start, there’s no doubt,” Ravenna manager Andrea Mandorlini told reporters on Friday. “Then together we will decide how long he plays. He is one of the greatest players of the modern era. And we have to get a result. We always play with three forwards. He will be one of the three.”
Ronaldinho, 46, last played a competitive game for Fluminense in Brazil in September 2015. He joined Serie C side Ravenna this year and also took a stake in the club, but until now it had been unclear whether he would ever play for them.
He arrived back in Italy on Friday and was due to have just one training session with his new team-mates on Saturday before the derby at the Stadio Bruno Benelli, where a temporary stand has been put up for the expected crowd. Ravenna are second in the table after 13 matches.
The former Barcelona and AC Milan playmaker has said he wants to score one more goal to take his career tally to 300. Forward Simone Rabbi, who will play alongside him, said Ronaldinho would take any penalty Ravenna are awarded.
“His objective is romantic, to try to score his last goal,” club owner Ignazio Cipriani said earlier this year. “His involvement is not a token gesture or a marketing stunt to get people talking about us.”
Ronaldinho won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and the Ballon d’Or in 2005, and won league titles in Spain with Barcelona and in Italy with AC Milan.
