MEXICO READY FOR RONALDINHO

It is finally beginning to sink in: Ronaldinho will play for Queretaro in the Liga MX.
 
It is a story no one would’ve even begun to believe just a few months back, when the club was in the hands of the Mexican government, players weren’t getting paid and its very existence was in grave danger.
 
Mexico’s version of The Onion – the satirical El Deforma – even ran a comedy story suggesting that Ronaldinho had “signed a contract believing it was the bill in a nightclub” and then discovered in a hung-over haze the next morning he had put pen to paper on a deal with Gallos Blancos.

Poking fun like that may play on a lazy stereotype of the player, but it does highlight the incredulity with which the move has been greeted, both inside and out of Mexico.

“Mexico is so special that I wanted to live here,” claimed Ronaldinho earlier in the week, assuring fans of Queretaro – a club that has never won the first division – that he wins trophies wherever he goes and that he was in need of a new challenge.
 
The 34-year-old jovial Brazilian has always been popular in Mexico and his move is a major positive for a league that hasn’t been able to pull in the big names like MLS, despite the Liga MX’s overall quality widely being regarded as above that of its northern neighbor.
 
Not many outside of North America appreciate that the Liga MX isn’t short of money, pays high wages and has the richest club owner in the world in Carlos Slim. Although his forays into the world of sports tend to err on the side of pragmatic investments to open up new opportunities, the specter of Slim getting out his checkbook would makes waves far outside of the country.
 
For now though, it is Queretaro owner Grupo Imagen – under holding company Grupo Empresarial Angeles – that has made the biggest signing perhaps ever in Mexican soccer by bringing the second Ballon d’Or winner – the first was Eusebio – to Mexican shores.
 
And the move is in line with the wider battle of media groups like Grupo Imagen seeking to wield influence via the Liga MX. In recent years, TV Azteca has taken over Atlas (it already owned Morelia), Televisa has retained an increasingly strong Club America and Slim-backed Grupo Pachuca has added to Pachuca by purchasing Leon and Mineros de Zacatecas.
 
Ronaldinho may be towing the line about wanting to sign for Queretaro, but Gallos Blancos aren’t AC Milan, Barcelona or even Club America. It seems incredulous that the Brazilian superstar was attracted to the colonial city of Queretaro for anything other than money – and it is surely much more than the two million dollars (US) per year base salary reported in the Mexican press.
 
For Queretaro, president Olegario Vazquez has been giving details about stabilizing the club after Grupo Imagen rescued it last May and then Ronaldinho’s signing being a commitment to fans to keep strengthening.
 
“We knew that signing Ronaldinho would be a story not just in Queretaro or Mexico, but it would transcend the national (press) and go all around the world,” Vazquez told Fox Deportes.
 
Negotiations, according to Vazquez, were a drawn out process, but the return from Queretaro’s outlay is also likely to be significant.
 
If all goes well, Ronaldinho’s mere presence should sell-out the 35,000-capacity Estadio Corregidora for the foreseeable future. Other stadiums Queretaro play in will also be packed and shirt sales will soar.
 
How Ronaldinho fits into coach Ignacio Ambriz’s plans on the field remains to be seen, but the word coming from the club is that he will be treated like any other player and won’t receive extra privileges.
 
With new potential fans looking on, this is a window of opportunity for the Liga MX to shine and Tigres’ Brazilian coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti believes it could lead to other big names arriving.
 
“The arrival of Ronaldinho could mean certain players won’t under-appreciate our league, which happens a lot,” said Ferretti in a press conference this week. “What we want is for our league to get better and with his arrival it could cause a rise (in quality).”
 
“Ronaldinho coming will change a lot of opinions about certain elements of our football,” he added.
 
Not everyone is so positive, with Pumas president Jorge Borja suggesting he was offered Ronaldinho, but politely declined, questioning the value for money of the deal.

“I’d have a Rolls Royce, but then not be able to afford the gas to run it,” he stated, in widely reported quotes. “It will distort the club (Queretaro), because the club will have to work for Ronaldinho.”
 
Queretaro fans, at least for now, won’t care one bit. They are still pinching themselves to see if it is real and although the player isn’t set to debut until a week on Sunday against Chivas in Guadalajara, the hype has already hit overdrive.

Expect hundreds of fans to pack airports whenever Gallos Blancos arrive in a city, TV ratings to rocket and thousands of new Queretaro fans to sprout up.
 
Ronaldinho-mania has arrived in Mexico.