Brazilian Football Legend Ronaldo Joins WPP

Brazilian football legend Ronaldo has joined comms giant WPP as an intern, apparently in a bid to learn about the world of advertising.

In this two year placement, Ronaldo (Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima) will work closely with WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, with whom he set up sports marketing comms agency 9ine in São Paulo two years ago. The agency was established to exploit the marketing opportunities surrounding sports in Brazil, which will host the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Ronaldo retired from football in 2011, after spells at clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan. He won the World Cup in 2002 for Brazil, scoring two goals in the final, and was also named Fifa world player of the year three times.

In an interview with Brazilian newspaper Meio e Mensagem about his new role, Ronaldo stated: 'Learning from Martin Sorrell will be perfect. I won't leave him alone. I'll be asking him questions the whole day, just like a striker. He's going to have to tell me everything.'

Sorrell confirmed that Ronaldo will initially be 'playing for WPP' in the UK.

Web site: www.wpp.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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