Roberto de Assis Moreira

Roberto de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Assis (born January 10, 1971), is a former footballer who is the brother, manager, agent and adviser of Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho.

Although Assis is known predominantly for his intelligent managing of better known and more illustrious younger brother Ronaldinho's career, he himself was a budding football talent in his youth. In fact, Brazilian club Grêmio offered Assis' family a villa in order to keep the promising youngster with the club.

Previously, the family had lived in a wooden house in the middle of a favela or slum in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. At this time, João (his father), a solderer by trade, often worked as a car park security guard at Grêmio's stadium in order to supplement his meager income.

Roberto's success as a footballer helped his family leave the slots behind for a more comfortable home, but his hopes of playing top-level football with Grêmio were all but destroyed when he suffered a serious knee injury, which led him to play football in Switzerland. He played for Sion in 1992-1995 and 1996-1998. With Sion he won two Cups in 1995 and 1997 and became Swiss Champion that year. Then he went to stints in Japan and Mexico.

Years later, Roberto's younger brother Ronaldo (now known only as Ronaldinho), would emerge as an even hotter talent at Grêmio's youth set-up before departing his home country for French side PSG and eventually Spanish club Barcelona, whom he was with for five years, before departing for Milan in 2008.

Today, Assis acts as his brother's agent and adviser, and is credited by many, including Ronaldinho himself, as a major influence and guiding force of the player.

During his acceptance speech after receiving the FIFA World Player of the Year award for a second consecutive year in December 2005, Ronaldinho paid tribute to his brother: "He's my idol. He's been through a lot and has helped me every step of the way. He has encouraged me never to stop trying."

Assis also owns Brazilian club Porto Alegre, which currently plays the Campeonato Gaúcho.

• Grêmio
  • Campeonato Gaúcho: 1988, 1989, 1990
  • Copa do Brasil: 1989
• Sion
  • Swiss Super League: 1997
  • Swiss Cup: 1995, 1997