Today we were stunned by Edmilson having to leave the team.

I’m really upset for him.

Besides being my team mate, he’s also a close friend, a fantastic player that the national team is losing at the start of training camp.

Mineiro is also fabulous and he won’t let us down by replacing Edmilson.

Mineiro was born in Porto Alegre, he-he-he...how do you like that.

He’s from my area.

I can only wish him the best and also wish Edmilson a quick recovery in this difficult time. You just have to hold up your head and keep going.

I was already longing to step on the field and play a real game.

Sure, it was only a friendly game but changing the pace a bit is always exciting.

It was great to feel the fans up close again.

The Luzerna team also helped by always playing the ball even though we scored a lot of goals.

I really enjoyed it.

It was a chance to get the rhythm back.

Today we had a videogame and ping pong championship.

It was great fun...everybody had a good laugh.

This fooling around makes the team a more closely knit group.

The weather isn’t the best. I discovered that we’re in the middle of spring but it seems like winter.

The sun actually comes out in the morning, but then it clouds over and gets misty. And I won’t even mention the cold. It almost seems like Gramado and Canela down in southern Brazil.

But you just have to get used to it...

It was a tiring trip to the city of Weggis here in Switzerland.

Other than that, we’ve been having a lot of fun. The world cup is just around the corner, and everyone is motivated and adapting well.

We haven’t been able to see much yet, but we have to train hard to fine tune the team.

It’s amazing to see how many Brazilians there are all over the world. But it’s not just Brazilians, the team is always welcome by everyone and it hasn’t been any different here.

Personally, I really enjoy a friendly welcome and I also like to make people feel good.

What I can say is that I could not be happier now. Winning the Champions League is both a dream and a goal we had long since. Thank God we made it with much dedication, much struggle and much unity among the group of players, the technical committee and the directors. Let alone our wonderful fans. This title has been given to each fan who has been standing by us.

Congratulations to everybody!

The welcome party in Barcelona was wonderful.

I will never forget it.

I would like to thank everybody who has somehow congratulated me on this title. I’d rather not name a few because I don’t want to forget anybody. However, I would like to give special thanks to my family, who has always stood by me. My mother was supporting us while watching through the TV, in Porto Alegre, my brothers, who were in Paris, and my friends.

Now, everybody’s focus on the World Cup. Early next week we will already be in Switzerland to start working. I am sure people in that region will welcome us.

Before anything else, I would like to say I am very happy for winning the 2005/6 Spanish title. It was a season as wonderful as the previous one. Thank you for the Barça supporters who have always been standing by us. They deserve this victory. Thank you, my teammates, the directors, the employees. Thank you everybody who has worked for this title. Now is the time to celebrate and focus for the Champions League final on the 17th.

I am looking forward to it.

I would like to take the chance and send my special regards to Aris people, in Greece, who are going to face a decisive match this weekend. Kind regards to the president, the players, and the fans.

Good luck. I wish you all the best.

I’m very happy about the result of the game against Milan. Nobody expected to go through easily, not even after we won in Milan. and it really wasn’t easy.. Milan played hard from the start. They defended heavily. It was difficult to get through that.

But what matters is that we made it through and are living the dream of taking Barca to the Champions League final.

From the beginning of the season that had been our objective and thanks goodness we got there. Now we have to prepare ourselves for the final on the 17th. Congratulations to Arsenal who played well to get there. It’s going to be a great game and let the best team win. We hope that it’s us.

Before that we have to focus our attention on La Liga. This weekend we have a decisive game against Cadiz. We may even be league champions depending on the other results.

A decisive week is beginning for Barcelona. In fact, it’s another decisive week because each game has been a decision for us both in La Liga and the Champions League. 

It will start on Sunday in the game against Sevilla away from home.  Our aim is to try to get a good result to keep the point difference on the league table and then, on Wednesday, it’s the return game against Milan. What a game.

Last Tuesday we had a spectacular result at San Siro. Milan are one of the best teams in the world and we came back from Italy with a victory. It couldn’t have been better. It’s a good advantage but we can’t lose our concentration. Any moment of poor concentration can mean we lose it at the end.

Now I want to concentrate all my efforts for that aim of getting to the final of the Champions League.

My family has always followed Easter traditions to the letter. Everyone together, nests and Easter eggs. Moments that I remember to this day.

My mother has already returned to Porto Alegre but even so I am looking to follow our traditions by spending Easter with my sister and the people that are with me on a daily basis. On this day I would like to wish a happy Easter to everyone in the world regardless of beliefs, race or religion.  Lots of unity, lots of love and health for the whole world.

I was very happy with the win Grêmio had last week against its traditional rival Internacional. It must have been a great party atmosphere amongst the Gremio fans in Porto Alegre. Especially as it was made champion at its rival's stadium. Congratulations to all Gremio fans, and my friends at the time I played for Gremio who I miss so much. I hope they are very happy and that Gremio is lucky in this Brazilian championship that began on Sunday.

Today I had lunch with my friend Mauricio de Souza.

The father of the “Turma da Mônica” cartoon strips.

It was really great! I was very happy with how our character had turned out. The album and the comic books are becoming really popular. I hope the kids are enjoying it.

Maurício is a really great guy.

A big hug goes out to him and I hope he can come and visit me more often.

Tomorrow is the big deciding game against Benfica, but I’m not going to write anything about that today. I want to keep my mind focused.

It was no different than we had expected. The game against Benfica was very difficult. The Portuguese team marks its opponent strongly, but is loyal. I think the draw ended up being a good result despite the fact we had the best chances.

It’s going to be an unforgettable week for whoever loves football. There’s a great game this Saturday against Real Madrid and after that the second of the Benfica game.

We have great expectations for these games.

I’m training a lot so I can be 100%.

Ronaldinho

I’m very happy with the result of the match against Chelsea. I was really prepared for this game and, fortunately, I had the opportunity to score the winning goal. I’d like to congratulate all my teammates and to thank Barcelona fans who filled the Camp Nou stadium on this unforgettable night. Everything was very beautiful.  Now we’ll wait for our next rival in the quarter finals. 

Well, before the quarter finals, we must concentrate on the Premier League games. On Sunday we have another very difficult game in Pamplona against Osasuna.  We’ll do all we can to maintain our advantage and confidence.

My greetings to all the women on the planet for the International Women’s Day last Wednesday, and a big kiss to my mother and my sister, the most important women in my life. 

I love you.

Ronaldinho

Hello my friends,

This last week couldn't have been better. Things are going very well. We've won the matches against Betis, with our fans' support, and against Chelsea in London with a wonderful result. It was a very hard match with strong man-to-man marking and a hard field to play on. Fortunely, we've shown a great group quality and we've gained an advantage for the next match. We don't have the victory yet, because Chelsea are an excellent team and we need to keep the focus.

Before that we must remain strong on Liga because we have a difficult game against Zaragoza.

Ronaldinho

Hello, my dear friends,

Unfortunately this is another week that I will have to fulfill suspension and I will not be able to be at  the field on Sunday's match against Valencia. My suspension is because I got a red card on the match against Zaragoza for Copa del Rey's Championship and that must be fulfilled on a Liga's match. I was already out against Atletico Madrid because of my yellow cards.

The worst thing for me is when I can't help my teammates, but I'll be rooting for them on this very important match.

I am training a lot in this last days and I wish to be 100% for the match against Betis on the other Saturday.

Hello, my friends!

Well, everyone knew that the match against Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey would be very difficult and complicated. Their team is very good.

Now though we have to turn our attention back to La Liga. Our advantage over Valencia in second place is excellent and we've got there with dedication and effort. Still, we can't lose focus because every match is decisive. This Sunday we'll play at home against Atletico de Madrid. Another hard match. They've changed their coach recently and they will now be very motivated after their great 4-3 victory against Deportivo La Coruna last weekend.

Unfortunately I will be out as a result of the yellow cards but I will be providing support for my teammates.

This match reminds me that Atletico de Madrid was responsible for our last defeat in La Liga last September. Since then, we have not lost a match and we're going to do everything we can to keep things this way. It's going to be a great match and we're counting on the support of our fans.

On Tuesday I attended El Mundo Deportivo newspaper's 100th anniversary party here in Spain. It was a wonderful party at Palau de Congressos de Catalunya. There were a lot of nice people there. It's always good to catch up with friends that I don’t often get the chance to talk to. I chatted with Pele, the greatest player of all time. It was a joy and an honour to listen to compliments from a person like him.

This has made me more motivated for tonight's match against Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey. We all know that it will be very hard to beat the last score, we respect the other team but we'll try our hardest to win and qualify.

Ronaldinho

After Sunday's match against Mallorca, another hard week of decisive matches gets underway.

As I had forseen, the Mallorca game was very difficult and despite the 3-0 scoreline, their team made it hard for us.  Messi had an important role when he came on at half time.  He scored two goals just at the right time.  We're now 12 points ahead of Valencia in second position.  It's a good advantage but we mustn't lose focus.  We have another difficult game at Camp Nou on Saturday - the classic match against Atletico de Madrid.

Before that, on Wednesday, we face Zaragoza for the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.  We'll be trying to make up for the first game's bad results where we lost 4-2.  A 2-0 victory would be enough for us.  It's going to be very hard, but in football we know that nothing is impossible.  I hope that all of our fans turn up at the stadium to support us.  The match is at 10pm - a difficult time but we need the support of all of our fans to get a spot in the cup's semifinals.

Hello, my friends!

It's been a busy week, with a home match on Sunday, a trip to Zaragoza on Thursday and another match far from home the following Sunday.

I found all the fallout over the penalty kick that I missed during last week's match against Alavés rather strange. I'm not a machine. I've missed other penalty kicks and I'll probably miss others in the future. The important thing is to not let it get you down, keep your head up and do your best on the pitch. Fortunately, we were able to score a second goal not long after my miss.

What I'm going to tell you now should be an example to any boys starting out in football:  Missing a penalty kick is a very common thing. You mustn't let it get you down and it's important to realise this as soon as you can. In the match against Zaragoza in the Copa Del Rey last Thursday, I was very happy to score from the penalty spot but unfortunately we lost the match.

In the little time that I have between my trips, training and matches I'm following my team-mate and friend Eto´o's progress in the African Cup of Nations. I was very happy with Cameroon's first match and with the three goals scored by him and also with their previous victory - 2-0 against Togo  It's a very interesting championship to watch, with some great teams on show. It's good to see the rapid development of African football.

This Sunday we face another difficult Liga match. Playing against Mallorca on Son Moix Stadium is always difficult and we'll need to give our best to get a good result. It'll be a great game for those watching.

Hi!!

Today is the first update to my blog in association with MSN. I'm very proud to be side by side with my friends and work partners on such an interesting project. I hope to tell you what happens on my work days on the Brazilian Team and Barcelona. I'm not too much of a writer, but I’m looking forward to corresponding with you. 

After a wonderful 2005 I can just thank God for everything that I’ve achieved on and off the football pitch. I want to thank my family who have always been by my side, my teammates and all the fans that supported me through the year.

Now begins a special year. It’s the year of the World Cup and it's impossible not to have huge expectations.

Our group - with Croatia, Japan and Australia is very difficult, but I believe we have every chance of having a good first round. But this is a subject we can talk about later…

Every day proves that there’s nothing between the teams in my league.  A team that is doing badly in the table doesn’t want to admit defeat.  They may be doing badly at the moment but they can come good at any time.  Our last match showed this.  Athletic Bilbao were difficult opponents and it was a difficult victory for us.  I’m sure that the next match again Alavés will be another hard match even though they’re not in a great position.  We have great respect for Alavés and they had a great win against Deportivo away.

Zaragoza will be our adversary in the Copa Del Rey. Other hard match. 

I would like to send big kiss to my brother Roberto and his wife Carla. Congratulations on the birth of my niece –Roberta - a sweet little girl born last Monday.  Sadly I couldn’t be with them at the time but I’m very happy for them.  She’s a beautiful girl and my next goal will be a gift for her.

Congratulations!