Manchester United midfielder Fred opens up on taking inspiration from legendary World Cup-winning Brazil squad

New Delhi:  Manchester United star Fred recently opened up on the inspiration he has received from watching the 2002 World Cup-winning Brazil squad.

Led by legends such as Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, Brazil triumphed in 2002 under the managerial genius of Luis Felipe Scolari.

Recently, football legend Ronaldinho surprised his fans by making his debut India’s own microblogging platform on Thursday. The legendary player became the latest popular personality from the sports fraternity to join the social bandwagon.

The popular sportstar finally marked his presence on Koo as he opened his official Koo handle and gained over 3.6K followers in just 24 hours.

His verified Koo account goes his the name of “@ronaldinho” with his profile picture.

Ronaldinho’s first post on Koo features “thumbs up” emojis, “I also participated, this is Ronaldinho.”

While some fans are still trying to understand if this is actually Ronaldinho, fans have already started welcoming their Gaucho on Koo.

The 42-year-old announced his retirement in January after a career that included a World Cup trophy, a UEFA Champions League title and two FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Ronaldinho began his career with Brazil’s Gremio in 1998 before spells with Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, AC Milan, Flamengo, Queretaro and Fluminense.

He was voted FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005, and was a member of Brazil’s triumphant 2002 World Cup team. Apart from Ronaldinho, Former Indian National footballer known as “Sikkimese Sniper” Bhaichung Bhutia also joined Koo last year.

The Selecao beat Germany 2-0 in the final to win their fifth World Cup, the most by any nation in history.

Fred, who was only nine years old at the time, watched the games from his home and remembered seeing the great team play.

During a recent interview with Manchester United TV, the midfielder opened up on watching the tournament.

“I remember 2002,” he said. “I remember something of ’98, but just a little flash; I don’t remember a lot. But, in 2002, I remember I watched every game in Japan.

“In Brazil, the matches were at five o’clock in the morning, so I remember I talked to my father to wake me up to watch every game. So that’s my first memory. Yeah, (it was) the best memory because we won the World Cup, so good.”

When asked whether the members of the famous Selecao squad were his heroes, Fred admitted they were.

He added that his current agent and 2002 World Cup Brazil squad member Gilberto Silva has been his guide on how to go about the tournament.

“Yeah, of course,” he added. “I remember everyone, so good. Today, I work with Gilberto Silva. He’s my agent and one guy who won the World Cup, so I talk a lot with him to know because if you win the World Cup, you know about this.

“So I talk a lot with him, but I remember, of course, Ronaldo scored in the final. I remember it. Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, there were a lot of players so, Roberto Carlos, Cafu. So I have a lot of heroes from that World Cup.”

Brazil are currently top of Group G with three points from one game. They won their first outing 2-0 against Serbia. Fred came on as a substitute during the contest.

The Selecao are slated to face Switzerland in their next group game.

–IANS