Dunga Dumps Ronaldinho

September 27th, 2008 | by: Daryl | View Comments

So the latest Brazil squad has been announced, and Ronaldinho’s name is nowhere to be seen. Maybe not a huge Shock after the Milan man was booed during the 0-0 draw at home to Bolivia, but this isn’t how the big comeback was supposed to go.

First he was supposed to win the Olympic gold in Beijing, but that didn’t happen. Then he was supposed to re-ignite a struggling Milan team, but instead he’s been spending some time on the bench.

Remains to be seen whether ‘Dinho will be involved in Sunday’s big Milan derby, but his teammates Kaka and Pato will be joining up with the Seleção for October’s big big World Cup qualifying games against Venezuela and Colombia, while Ronny stays home. Was 2006 really only two years ago?

But Ronaldinho’s international days aren’t over yet. Or at least I hope not.

“Ronaldinho is a player in who we have great confidence,” Dunga told a media conference.

“He had a very good period with us during the Olympic Games and it’s perfectly normal that, after changing club, he needs time for training.”

“Now, he’s going to have more time to train and improve.”

“We’re going to do all we can to help him get back to being the Ronaldinho that everyone knows.”

I’m tempted to think there’s a bit of subtext here. It’s widely suspected that Ronaldinho was included in the Olympic squad by the CBF against Dunga’s wishes, a move which may or may not have contributed to Brazil’s relatively poor performance. So is this Dunga taking a bit of revenge? Or am I reading far too much into this?

Full Brazil squad:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma)

Defenders: Lucio (Bayern Munich), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Thiago Silva (Fluminense), Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Juan (Flamengo), Kleber (Santos)

Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Mancini (Inter Milan), Lucas (Liverpool), Kaka (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Elano (Manchester City), Anderson (Manchester United)

Forwards: Robinho (Manchester City), Jo (Manchester City), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla).

(most represented club team? – Manchester City)

More on Milan’s #80 at Ronaldinho Offside