My dad won the Ballon d’Or and World Cup – now I’m making my own way in football

A BRAZIL icon’s son is following in his father’s footsteps as a professional footballer.

His dad was one of the greatest players in the world in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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Rivaldinho has played in Bulgaria, Romania and Poland[/caption]

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His father used to play for Barcelona and AC Milan[/caption]

He even won the Ballon d’Or in 1999 before adding the World Cup to his trophy collection three years later.

The attacking midfielder also lifted two LaLiga titles with Barcelona and the Champions League with AC Milan during his glittering career.

Rivaldo, 51, is of course the man in question – but few are aware of his son.

Nicknamed Rivaldinho, the 28-year-old attacker is currently at Romanian club Farul Constanta.

He initially found comparisons to his dad difficult to deal with as a youngster, telling The Athletic it made him not want to play football.

Rivaldinho said: “When I was in Brazil at around 13 I was the top scorer in the league. People were saying, ‘Of course you are. Your father is Rivaldo, so he helps you.’

“I called my dad and said, ‘I don’t want to play any more. I want to study and be with my friends.’

“He said that I could do whatever I wanted but that I should remember he was on the other side of the world and I was playing alone.

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“I didn’t like what people were saying but in the end I just said, ‘These are my feet I am scoring with, not those of my father.’

“It clicked in my mind that this will always happen.”

Motivated to make his own way in the game, his senior career began in his homeland of Brazil at second tier club Mogi Mirim while his father played alongside him as a 40-year-old veteran.

They both once scored in the same match.

Rivaldinho eventually moved to Europe in 2015 and signed for Portuguese club Boavista.

But he never made it there and left for Dinamo Bucharest in Romania.

Rivaldinho soon found his home in Eastern Europe and has had something of a journeyman career since.

He has played for Levski Sofia in Bulgaria, Viitorul Constanta in Romania and Cracovia in Poland.

His best return for the season was the 11 goals he scored for Viitorul in the 2019/20 campaign.

He remains in the Romanian Liga now with Farul Constanta.

Reuters

Rivaldo won the World Cup in 2002 in a star-studded team that included Ronaldinho[/caption]