FRANKFURT, June 28: Ronaldinho is a modest member of the Brazil squad who never turns up late for meals and entertains his teammates by leading the samba with his tambourine on the bus home after a match.

That was the revealing picture of the Barcelona midfielder painted by part-time amateur artist and full-time Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira on Tuesday.

“Ronaldinho’s a much loved member of the team. He’s not someone who boasts about his achievement.

“He does everything by the rule book, always shows up for training at the right time, is never late for meals, and loves to lead the samba on the trips home after a game,” revealed Parreira.

The Brazil coach then compared his midfield genius to Argentina’s own formidable midfield general, Juan Roman Riquelme, who will take the World Footballer of the Year on in Wednesday’s Confederations Cup final.

“There’s a clear difference between them, they both have very different styles.

“Ronaldinho has more trickery about him, Riquelme is more direct - they’re both very effective in their own way.”

Parreira is a big Riquelme fan.

“If he was Brazilian he could play on many teams, including the national one!”

Asked at the traditional eve-of match press conference about the absence of Argentina’s star player Hernan Crespo, who scored twice in Argentina’s 3-1 victory over Brazil in a World Cup qualifier prior to the tournament, he smiled: “It’s lucky for Brazil that Crespo’s not here.

“But then again it’s lucky for Argentina that Ronaldo’s not here either!”—AFP