"Ronaldinho? One thing is being stupid and another is being a criminal"

If there is an Argentine who loves Brazil's football, it is Jorge Valdano. The former coach had no problem in praising Romario in the 1990s and he has alsways said he loves technical players from Brazil like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

In a column in 'El Pais', Valdano defended Ronaldinho from people's criticism of him after being detained and spending some time in a Asuncion prison.

"Ronaldinho was in jail for a few weeks. If the average crime rate in the world was that of Ronaldinho's, the whole world should be a prison. One thing is being stupid, as his lawyer called him, and another thing is being a criminal," the Argentine began.

Valdano stressed that if Ronaldinho broke the rules anywhere, it was on the field of play: "As occurs with some many Brazilian footballers, for him life was always a party, and football, a game which exaggerates life, a real party. The only place Ronaldinho behaved like a troublemaker was on the pitch. "