Earlier this month Ronaldinho went over to EA Studios Barcelona to slip into a motion capture suit and show off his skills for the up coming FIFA 08 game. And while there the team from IGN caught up with Ronaldinho with his views on the game and talked about the time he spends playing video games with other team mates. All the images and the interview are courtesy of IGN.com

UK, June 1, 2007 - Ronaldinho doesn’t do many interviews. He’d rather let his feet - and indeed the skills which have seen him crowned World footballer of the year three times - do the talking. However, when we were invited to Barcelona to watch the Brazilian midfield maestro slip into a motion capture suit and work his magic for the forthcoming FIFA 08, he took time out to talk to IGN about what it’s like to star in the biggest football game on the planet and how it feels to run around the pitch wearing nothing but a black catsuit covered in ping-pong balls…

IGN: Are you looking forward to wearing the Mo-Cap suit?

Ronaldinho: Yes. I’ve worn it before and enjoyed it. It is a completely different experience and I look funny in that suit. I couldn’t imagine playing a game with all those wires attached to me, that would be impossible.

IGN: When you play FIFA, who do you play as?

Ronaldinho: Normally I play as either Barça or the Brazilian national team. Sometimes I play with teams from other countries, but Barça is the team I like to play with best. Technically, I think Barça is one of the best teams in FIFA - so I’m lucky that I play for them in real life. I usually play as myself, but sometimes I’ll try playing as Leo Messi.

IGN: Which other players in the Barça dressing room play FIFA?

Ronaldinho: A lot of them play FIFA, but I’d say that me and Thiago Motta (Barça’s Brazilian midfielder) are the two which play it the most. We play against each other.

IGN: Who is better?

Ronaldinho: It depends on the day. Some days I win, others Thiago wins. Depends on which team we play too. If you play as Barça then you have an advantage.

IGN: You’ve said that you have FIFA competitions with your friends…

Ronaldinho: I do. They come to my house and we’ll have some dinner, then spend the rest of the night playing FIFA. It can get quite heated.

IGN: What was your opinion of the Champions League final between Liverpool and Milan?

Ronaldinho: It was a good game. There’s a strong Brazilian presence in Milan and I’m happy that my compatriots Dida, Cafu, Serginho, Ronaldo and Kaka were part of winning one of the biggest trophies you can win. I know all of them didn’t play against Liverpool, but they all played their part in Milan’s success.

FIFA 08 is shaping up to be another step forward for the FIFA franchise from what I am observing. Let’s hope it is better than FIFA 07, which is hard to believe since I love that game so much

I really do hate it when it begins to rain. Not only does it cause ground closures all over the place, but it means that you and I can’t go down to the park to practice our ball skills and accuracy. This past week it has rained, long and hard, causing all the fields in my area to close and has left me useless. I have actually lost sleep over not being able to go to training all week. Where you live, this might not be the case, so maybe I should do a repeat post in my summer, your winter So what do you do when you are rendered useless by the rain?

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

And if you’re desperate to practice your skills infront of a goal, then go right ahead and play in the pouring rain. I have done this many times, but this course of action comes with a warning. Be properly equipped and dressed for the occasion. That means a really warm tracksuit and hood/beanie to cover your head. Use some really crappy boots that you might have laying around because they will get drenched and really dirty. You also run the risk of catching a cold. This seems extreme, but those who are serious about becoming the best will train, rain, hail or shine.

Option Number Two

You stay inside and work on your strength. I have spoken about the importance of strength training before and the balance that you need to have with weights and training. The idea of balance between strength and technique still applies here, but when you have no choice but to work out, then do it. This means that if you’re not out in the wet training, you are inside doing the following exercises:

• Push-ups (Clapping ones if possible)
• Sit-ups/Crunches
• Squats/Leap Frogs
• Stretches
• Leg Elevations

There are more, but these are the fundamentals. You can find details on how to do these exercises on the web. Finally you can always work on your ball control via juggling on the spot. However, you really do need to be careful and considerate to the other people that you share the house with, whether it be parents, brothers, sisters or room mates. And you also need to be wise to the possibility of breaking something.

What’s The Moral Of The Post?

Always be doing something which benefits your game! Never just sit around doing nothing with your time, unless of course you’ve decided recovery is in order for injuries or tiredness you may have. So I want to reiterate to always be doing something to benefit your game because you don’t have a say in the weather, someone/thing else does and until they decide to stop the rain, you do what you have to do

But first what does a player associate with being on the bench? Here is a few things I could think of off the top of my head:

• You have an injury and can’t play
• You’re not needed to play this match
• You will be needed to come on later

What do you think Gudjohnsen and Deco are thinking? These guys are elite players and they’re on the bench, so it shows you anyone gets subbed, even the best.

What Is The Manager Thinking

The manager’s role is to do what is in the best interest of the team, and that is to win games, nothing else. He is not there to satisfy your urge to play or anything else. Having coached before, I can say the following in response to the list above:

• The manager will want you to rest the injury, not play on it and make it worse
• He would want to give others a shot at playing, to prove themselves in the team
• You may be the only person who can make a real difference later on when the team needs you

It Is Very Normal To Get Annoyed

We all get a little stirred up when we don’t get to play. I love football, like many of you and I really hate being substituted or benched because it signals the end of me playing with the ball. But I want to stress to you, like Donald Trump says, it’s nothing personal between you and the manager, it’s just business. The business of achieving team cohesion and winning games as a result.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

One more little thing I want you to realise. When you are substituted off the field, your actions and attitude will have effect on the next time that you play. So that means, you run off with your head held high, shaking your team mates hands on the way and finally giving all your best to the team mate who replaces you. Your manager will see this and it won’t go unnoticed, trust me on this.