by Brazil legend Ronaldinho makes shock return to football aged 42 and makes hilarious joke to referee
BRAZIL icon Ronaldinho has returned to the pitch at the age of 42.
The Barcelona legend retired from professional football in 2015 after spending the last years of his career in South America.
But now football fans have been given the opportunity to see him in a kit one last time
The ex-Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan forward turned out for Porcinos FC in the seven-a-side King’s League run by fellow Barcelona legend Gerard Pique.
The tournament, based in Spain, allows teams to bring in a 12th player each week – often a retired footballer or celebrity.
Iker Casillas, Kun Aguero and Xavi are among the former pros to have played in the tournament.
Ronaldinho was taking part in the eighth round of the competition against Pio FC.
And he was handed the opportunity to score in the one-off game when his side were awarded a penalty.
This gave the 2002 World Cup winner the chance to leave everyone in stitches with a brilliant remark.
It came after the referee quizzed Ronaldinho as to whether he was going to take the kids
To which he replied: “I’m not going to be running, let someone else run”.
Porcinos FC went on to lose the game 3-1 as Ronaldinho failed to lead his side to victory.
But he still attracted a huge amount of interest online as Spanish media reported the match was watched by 873,000 people across Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok.
After hanging up his boots eight years ago following a stint with Fluminese, Ronaldinho returned to the game in 2018 for a brief stint with Indian Futsal side the Goa 5.
He retired as one of just eight players to have won the Champions League, World Cup and Ballon d’Or.
Ronaldinho scored 266 goals in 699 games across a sensational club career.
He also received 97 caps for Brazil, netting 33 goals.
