World Cup 2010: Can Ronaldinho Win His Brazil Place Back?

Ronaldinho is a man reborn. The playmaker has come out fighting since being dropped by the national team coach, Dunga, and seems to have regained some of his best form in an effort to win a place in the Selecao's 2010 FIFA World Cup™ squad.

Milan have benefitted from the 29-year-old's renaissance as he has helped catapult the Diavoli into second place in the Serie A table in recent weeks. Thanks to his goals and assists throughout the season, 'Dinho has become one of the Italian league's most influential players. His compatriot and club coach, Leonardo, has worked hard to gradually manipulate Milan's tactics in order to maximise the former PSG star's output. Playing on the wide left of a 4-3-3 formation, Ronaldinho is permitted to influence games in much a similar manner as he did at Barcelona during the mid-part of the last decade. And although some of the lung capacity and pace may be diminished, Ronaldinho is no less capable in possession, either through his dribbling abilities or his accurate through passes.

Over the past few weeks, the Brazilian has been prominent in almost all of Milan's attacking threats. Against Udinese, he provided three assists, against Manchester United, he scored and set one up; likewise, last weekend, he prompted goals for Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato. He was at it again in midweek, providing the weaponry for Milan to claim a 2-1 win over Fiorentina. You don't have to go back too far for his last hat-trick either, against Siena in January. Should he sustain his momentum, his international credentials will be, once again, impossible to ignore.

The rapid ascent of Ronaldinho  from 712 to 396 in the latest Castrol Rankings shows why he is pressing hard for a recall and he could stage a comeback on the global stage in time for the South Africa showdown on the back of his resurgence at club level.

Castrol Ambassador and 1998 FIFA World Cup™ winner Marcel Desailly said of his chances: “Tournament success comes down to having your best players in their best form at exactly the right time. Every successful team needs a match-winner and [Fernando] Torres and [Wayne] Rooney are clearly vital to their countries’ hopes of doing well in South Africa. If they stay fit and in form, then Spain and England will both be strong contenders.

“Brazil have traditionally had a number of star players in their side who can change a game, and Ronaldinho has shown he can do it at the highest level. If he can get near to the form he produced when he was at his peak four or five years ago, then he can again produce the moment of magic that can swing a game his side’s way. He isn’t getting any younger, but his performances for AC Milan won’t have gone unnoticed by coach Dunga.”  

Only one forward, Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano at number 39, down from 19, ranks among the top 17 Brazil players; a list which is headed by Barcelona full back Daniel Alves, at nine. 

With so few of his international colleagues and rivals shining this season, Ronaldinho has every chance of overhauling the likes of Ramires, Nilmar or Julio Baptista for a berth in Dunga's 23.

One of Brazil's key men, the Real Madrid playmaker Kaka, is currently ranked 118, and with Robinho now attempting to get his season back on track back home with Santos following his loan move from Manchester City, the door could open for the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ winner.