Barcelona sign up legend Ronaldinho's son and hope greatness runs in the family

By Sports Desk March 02, 2023

Barcelona have handed Joao Mendes a chance to make it big at Camp Nou, just like his father Ronaldinho ascended to superstar status at the club.

The 18-year-old Mendes signed a contract on Thursday to join Barcelona's youth academy, with the young forward hoping to make the grade.

Mendes has been taken on after a trial period, having previously played at junior levels with a number of Brazilian clubs.

Across all competitions, Ronaldinho scored 98 goals in 207 games for Barcelona during a five-year spell from 2003 to 2008.

He was recruited as close to the finished article, having already shone for Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil, and went on to take his game to even higher levels by helping Barcelona win two LaLiga titles and the Champions League.

While thousands turned out to welcome Ronaldinho in 2003, his son's signing was a low-profile affair, with the club's youth football director Joan Soler Ferre joining him to overlook the completion of the deal.

Ronaldinho, who won the 2005 Ballon d'Or, is now a Barcelona ambassador.

Youngster Mendes was released by Cruzeiro last year, but in February the Barcelona president Joan Laporta welcomed the prospect of him joining the Catalan giants.

"The pressure on the boy is great, because Ronaldinho has been one of the best in history," Laporta said then. "The son has pressure, but it's the job of our coaches to develop his skills."

Related items

  • Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run

    Oliver Glasner is hopeful that Crystal Palace can maintain their recent winning run when they travel to Fulham on Saturday.

    After a run of five games without a victory, the Eagles have won each of their last three games, beating Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle United.

    Their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday also secured their Premier League safety for another season.

    Glasner has given credit to his team’s attitude in turning around their recent run of form but does not want them to slow down despite reaching their goal.

    He said: “The players give us confidence because they are listening. Every day we were sitting here and having a meeting and showing them videos and nobody was sleeping, so that gives us good feedback!

    "Now we have 39 points and I think it shouldn't be our target to say ‘39 points, oh well done, staying in the Premier League’ because then I would say 'come on guys, go wherever you want and take vacations' – but no.

    "We want to improve, we want to win games, and we have the next chance tomorrow at Fulham."

  • Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance

    Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.

    The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.

    Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.

    “I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.

    “Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.

    “We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.

    The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”

    The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.

    While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

    Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.

    CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter

    Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.

    MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN

    Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.

    Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.

    Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Columbus Crew – 56.4%

    CF Montreal – 18.6%

    Draw – 25%

  • Man Utd cannot afford to get complacent – Ten Hag Man Utd cannot afford to get complacent – Ten Hag

    Erik ten Hag urged his players not to get complacent against a Burnley side who are still fighting for their place in the Premier League.

    After a run of four games without a win in the top-flight, Manchester United came from behind with late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund to beat bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United on Wednesday.

    The Red Devils sit in sixth place on 53 points, three more than Newcastle United below them, but have not yet secured a place in Europe next season.

    When asked what kind of challenge Burnley would pose, Ten Hag was full of praise for the way Vincent Kompany has set up his team.

    “They play high-intensity football. They have changed their approach slightly in the season. They have had good results and are hard to beat, and all the compliments to Vincent and his staff.

    “We can’t afford to think [it’s only X] about any opponent. With the team we have available, we have to be creative. We have to take every opponent with 100% focus. We can’t allow and do a little bit less.”

    Burnley’s survival hopes were given a huge boost last weekend with an impressive 4-1 win against Sheffield United, leaving them just three points behind Nottingham Forest in 17th.

    With just four games left of the season, Kompany highlighted the characteristics have kept the Clarets within touching distance of the teams around them.

    He said: “The biggest thing is consistency, hard work and making sure to not get distracted by the outside noise has been the main factor. We haven't found the recipe for Champions League football yet, but we are improving every game.

    "I know we still have a chance and that's all that matters to me, whether it's two teams, three teams or four teams still in it, it doesn't matter too much to me.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.