MEXICO -- Ronaldinho said he doesn't plan on changing his lifestyle off the pitch, but that it wouldn't keep him from fighting to add one more title to an illustrious career that currently has made a stopover at Queretaro in the Liga MX.
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Ronaldinho, who was officially introduced by the club he signed with last week, has been a king of the World Cup with Brazil, the Champions League and La Liga with Barcelona, and the Copa Libertadores with Atletico Mineiro. However, he's known as a king of nightlife, a bon vivant and party animal.
At 34 years of age and in the twilight of his career, Ronaldinho doesn't believe it's time to change his lifestyle.
"I've always led the same kind of lifestyle, and all the teams I've played on, I've been a champion," said Ronaldinho during a press conference in Mexico's capital. "I hope to continue leading the same lifestyle and to keep being a champion."
Ronaldinho was without a team after leaving Atletico Mineiro, with whom he won the Copa Libertadores last year, and last week he signed a two-year agreement with Queretaro, a modest team that has never won anything but which has new aspirations since it was acquired by the Imagen Multimedia last May.
"I still need to win something in Mexico. That's what I've come to do, and I'm going to fight to help my team win something," Ronaldinho added. "I feel like a young player who's getting started again with a new dream. I want to make history with this club, and I'm really motivated."
Ronaldinho, a two-time Golden Ball winner, spent five excellent years playing for Barcelona, where he won the Champions League once and La Liga twice. He was also world champion in 2002 with the Brazilian national team, and he participated in the 2006 World Cup.
Famous players like Spaniards Emilio Butragueno and Pep Guardiola, Brazilian Bebeto, Chilean Ivan Zamorano, Pole Gregorz Lato and German Bernd Schuster all came to Mexico in the twilight of their careers, but Ronaldinho will be the first Golden Ball winner to play on Aztec soil.
"I know Mexican soccer really well. My brother has played here, and I have friends who have played and who currently play here. I've decided to come here because my brother spoke with the president, and I felt welcome, and because I believe I can achieve something big," he added. "I had the chance to be on various teams around the world. Queretaro won me over, and I've always wanted to live here. That's why I've come to continue my story in Mexico."
The striker, who arrived in Mexico earlier Friday morning, will undergo his first physical with the club. He did not participate in the team's game on Friday night.
"I just got here. Physically, I'm in good shape, but today I must not play. Within a few days, I'll join the group, and if the coach agrees, I can play right away," he added.
The signing of Ronaldinho by Queretaro represents an about face for this Mexican club, which changed owners following a scandal.
The previous owner, Amado Yanez, was arrested on charges of fraud against U.S. financial institution Citigroup, and the Mexican tax authorities seized control of the club. During this period, the players and club executives complained that wages were not paid.
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Months later, along with the Mexican Soccer Federation, the tax authorities sold the team to local media consortium Imagen Multimedia, owned by Olegario Vazquez Aldir.
The Imagen Group operates approximately 30 radio stations throughout the country, is the parent company to newspaper Excelsior, the second oldest in Mexico, and owns a free-to-air television channel. It belongs to the Angeles business group, owned by Olegario Vazquez Rana, father of Vazquez Aldir.
This larger conglomerate owns a hotel chain, a hospital chain and a financial group. Now the company has invested in soccer and may be poised to change the history of the teams in Queretaro, where the struggle to avoid relegation has been the norm.
"The team is thinking big. People still associate it with the relegation zone, but in the standings, percentage-wise we're in good shape. There's no trouble, and with the support of Imagen, it's a solid long-term project. That's why Ronaldinho was signed," stated Arturo Villanueva, president of the "White Roosters."
Queretaro is currently in eighth place in the Liga MX Apertura.