Top five soccer playersBy: Rafael Matera

Ronaldinho

• Ronaldo de Assis Moreira or known as Ronaldinho was born on the 21 of march 1980. He is a Brazilian footballer who play for Milan and Brazil. He is considered as on of the most gifted footballers.

Ronaldinho

• Ronaldinho skills started developing at an early age, and he was first given the nickname Ronaldinho because he was often the youngest and smallest of the team. He played in futsal and beach football until when he was twelve where he stared to play at a local team. His First brush with the media was at age of thirteen, when he scored 23 goals in a 23-0 victory.

Ronaldinho

• He made his debut in Copa Libertadores. Fans pressured coach to include Dinho in the Gremio initial eleven. Good games helped him to reach the Brazilian National Team in 1999. European clubs were scouting for him and his move to Europe was almost inevitable. In the middle of 2001 Paris Saint-Germain announced Ronaldinho was the club new star player. In 2003 Ronaldinho signed his contract with Barcelona.

Ronaldinho

• Ronaldinho was part of the Brazilian team that won the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship, in Egypt. Also he was part of the under 17 national team that played in 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria. Then Dinho participated in the 1999 Copa América and Brazil won the cup. In the 2002 World Cup the team also won. And In the 2005 Confederations Cup, Ronaldinho was the captain of Brazil

Kaká

• Ricardo Izecson do Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaká (due to the way his brother mispronounced his name when he was a child), is an attacking midfielder of AC Milan in Serie A, and of the Brazilian National Team. Kaka is considered one of the three best current players worldwide, and in 2007 he was voted by journalists and coaches as the best (he won the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World player).

Kaká

• Born in Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil on April 22nd 1982, Kaká moved to Sao Paulo when he was a child and joined the Sao Paulo FC Youth Academy when he was 8. Seven years after he joined the “Tricolour”, he signed his first contract as a professional player. In March 2001, Kaká played also FIFA Under 20 World Cup

Kaká

• With the Sao Paulo FC in 2002 during the season where Kaká made his name, he caught many European clubs attention. He scored 10 goals in 22 appearances, and made his debut in Brazil National Team. In 2003 Kaká joined AC Milan. Kaka recently completed his move to Real Madrid.

Kaká

• Kaká has in his awards list the 2002 World Cup, but he just played 18 minutes. In 2003, Kaká played an official competition, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where Brazil finished as runner-up. He played the 2006 World Cup Qualifying and the Confederation Cup in 2005. In 2006 he played the World Cup. And in 2009 he was named the most valuable player in brazil's successful Confederations Cup campaign. He was also the Man of the Match in the final against USA.

Cristiano Ronaldo

• Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Funchal, Madeira 5 February 1985. Ronaldo received this name as a tribute for former US president, Ronald Reagan. He didn’t like to study and the only time he really worked hard were during meals when he and his pals used to play football all the time.

Cristiano Ronaldo

• Such passion for the ball led him to Clube Futebol Andorinha de Santo Antonio. Later, he went to the amateur league of Nacional da Ilha da Madeira, in 1995. In his first year at Nacional, Ronaldo won the kid’s championship, going to Lisbon at only 11 years old. In September of 2002, he started his professional career on the Sporting Lisbon pro club team, when he was only 17 years.

Cristiano Ronaldo

• With Sporting Lisbon Ronaldo played 25 games. In 2003, Ronaldo signed a contract with Manchester United. He scored goal number 1000 in Premiership for Manchester United in 2005. In 2006, he scored in the Carling Cup Final and helped to win the trophy. Besides, he took the United to the semis of UEFA Champions League, when a painful loss to Milan ended the dream of the third title of the League.

Cristiano Ronaldo

• With help of Ronaldo, Chelsea started it’s dynasty in England, winning the Premier League in that year. Cristiano Ronaldo won a Premiership title with the Red Devils. He was elected the best player in England on the 2006/2007 season. Along with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo is part of one of the most deadly offensive lines in the world.

Buffon

• The man that became Italy’s best goalkeeper was born Gianluigi Buffon on January 28, 1978 in Carrara, Tuscany, the Northern region of Italy. Born into a family of natural athletes, Buffon made his mark early playing soccer in the streets. As a child he played soccer at his school, Canaletto.

Buffon

• He was found by the youth club Parma in 1991 where he played as a midfielder. It was not until the two goalkeepers were hurt that he subbed in as a keeper, and he found his place on the field. It was in 1995 at just 17 years old Parma’s Serie A team added him to their roster.

Buffon

• When Buffon was 17 he began his run in Italy’s Serie A league. After four seasons of playing with Parma, the work paid off as the club won the UEFA Champions League Cup. After 6 seasons Buffon decided to transfer to Juventus for €52 million Euro, the most ever for a goalkeeper transfer. In 2001 Buffon began his career with the well known and well skilled club, where he remains today. His play with Juventus escalated him to worldwide recognition.

Buffon

• In 2003 he won the UEFA Cup Most Valuable Player and the UEFA Cup Best Goalkeeper. Along with Italy, Buffon won the 2006 World Cup. Buffon was the recipient of the Yashin award, for best goalkeeper of the tournament. His performance led to him being among the 30 nominees for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award and among the 50 for the European Footballer of the year award.

Lionel Messi

• Lionel Messi was born in Rosario City, Argentina, on June 24, 1987. At the age of five, he started playing football for Grandoli, a club coached by his father. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness that cost over £500 a month.

Lionel Messi

• Barcelona signed him after watching him play, offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain. His family moved with the young player to Europe. Messi made spectacular progress at each of the different age levels, climbing through the ranks of the different youth teams. On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona. At the Under 20 World Cup in Holland, Messi won the title with Argentina.

Lionel Messi

• His breakthrough as a player came in the 2005-2006 season, starting with an amazing performance in the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Juventus. Injury kept him sidelined for much of the latter stage of the season. Messi played a total of 17 league games, 6 in the Champions League and 2 in the Copa del Rey. Messi scored eight goals.

Lionel Messi

• With the Argentina National Team he won the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With the FC Barcelona he won 2 La Liga Championships, 2 Supercopa de España, and the UEFA Champions League. He has won an Olympic gold medal, a the FIFA U-20 World Cup of 2005 and FIFA World Player of the Year of 2009. He was also the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals.