FC Barcelona legend Ronaldinho is among the most beloved footballers of his generation and is known for his joyous nature and for being a party freak, who loved to have as much of ‘fun’ in his personal life as he did tormenting opponents on the pitch.
Amid all this, the Brazilian superstar is now being accused of having a crazy doppelganger all the way far from home in South Africa, and not even a male look alike either.
The person in question has been identified as South African female footballer Miche Minnies, who currently plays for Mamelodi Sundowns WFC in the South Africa top division.
Don’t be surprised if this is the first time you’re hearing this name, because the South African Women’s Football scene is definitely not among the most popular thing going around.
Who is Miche Minnies and her resemblance to Ronaldinho?
As a result, the presence and identity of Minnies remained a mystery for many years before Football Twitter finally discovered her recently.
It appears that she has been playing at the top level of the female football scene in the country for many years and strikes a shockingly similar resemblance to Ronaldinho.
She appears to have striking similar facial features as the Brazilian legend. That includes the large front teeth which he was never shy from showing off, as he smiled all through his career.
Even her eyes are as big as Ronaldinho’s as well as her facial attributes, making it difficult to differentiate her from the Barcelona icon in a side-by-side comparison.
After one image of her playing for the Sundowns went viral, fans could not resist themselves from comparing her to Ronaldinho. There was an initial shock to the reactions because not many fans could imagine finding a Ronaldinho look-alike in South Africa, of all places.
This striking appearance got many fans thinking that there could actually be a chance that Minnies is related to Ronaldinho. From past evidence, there is proof that he at least visited the country once in his playing career.
Could Ronaldinho be related to Minnies?
It appears that the winger was part of the Barca squad that had travelled to South Africa way back in 2004 for a pre-season friendly campaign.
They even had a game against the Mamelodi Sundowns’ male team, defeating them 2-1. This game happened in 2007, which was arguably the height of Ronaldinho’s fandom all over the world.
Even though some fans started spewing out conspiracy theories of her possible relation to the Brazilian star, there is nothing to those claims. Minnies was born in 2001 in South Africa and was already around the age of six when Ronaldinho visited the country for the first time with Barcelona.
She’s now 21 and a star forward for Mamelodi Sundowns’ female side since joining them in 2021. Minnies is a clinical forward who is a former Golden Boot winner in the Sasol League National Championship (top division of female football in South Africa) and loves scoring goals.
Moreover, Minnies was also a part of the South Africa U-17 national team that participated at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, making three appearances for them.
When Minnies was born in November 2001, Ronaldinho was himself a 21-year-old footballer who had only joined PSG that summer after a move from Brazilian side Gremio – so there is literally no evidence that the two might be related in any way.
Even though the resemblance is uncanny, there is no evidence that Minnies is related to Ronaldinho – even though she seems to be a terrorizing player like him who is now making a name outside the South African football scene due to her appearance.