Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born 21 March 1980 in the city of Porto Alegre, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Growing up, his idols included the World Cup winning stars; Rivelino (from 1970), Diego Maradona (from 1986), Romário (from 1994), and his two future international teammates Ronaldo and Rivaldo (which would form the attacking trio in Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning team) [REF].