Ronaldinho has walked back what appeared to be criticisms of the Brazilian men's national team ahead of the Copa América, saying his social media post—which included saying Brazil was fielding "maybe one of the worst teams in recent years"—was all a part of an advertising campaign for a deodorant brand and weren't his own words.
"I would never abandon supporting Brazil," he wrote on his Instagram account (as translated by ESPN). "These words of abandonment of mine, in fact, were reproductions of real posts from fans on social media. Imagine hearing these reviews before playing? It's not possible, motivation goes down.