Ronaldinho sparkles, David Beckham struggles as AC Milan wins

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I had a choice on Friday: Get on the freeway with the rest of Los Angeles’ great unwashed and go to the Home Depot Center to see the ‘shadow’ U.S. national team train and the Galaxy scrimmage against UCLA, or stay at home and watch AC Milan play Udinese in a Serie A match. No choice, really. Not with Ronaldinho back in sparkling form for Milan and making a stronger case every day to be included in Brazil’s World Cup team when Coach Dunga names his squad in May. There had been stories out of Italy and Brazil recently that Ronaldinho, 30 next month, was not in consideration for the June trip to South Africa. There had even been reports that he was on his way out at Milan. Friday’s performance by the Brazilian playmaker made a mockery of such notions. He set up the first goal for Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar by popping up on the right and chipping in the perfect pass. He set up the second goal for Brazilian teammate Pato by delivering an inch-prefect pass from within his own half. He set up the third goal for Huntelaar with another spot-on delivery. In between all that, as AC Milan won, 3-2, Ronaldinho played with the eye-catching ease and ever-present grin that has made him one of the world’s most entertaining players for a decade or more. The no-look passes and the fancy footwork were worth the price of admission alone -- or at least the spot on the sofa in front of the television. A World Cup winner in 2002 and two-time FIFA world player of the year, Ronaldinho has been ignored by Dunga for almost a year. When he was out of form, there was good reason for that. But Ronaldinho’s 32 goals in 87 games for Brazil and his current sparkling play argue that Dunga would be foolish to leave one of the planet’s most popular players out of the squad. Dunga has not called Ronaldinho in for Brazil’s friendly against Ireland at the Emirates Stadium in London on March 2, but the clamor for the player’s recall will only grow louder if Ronaldinho can lead AC Milan past Manchester United when the clubs meet in the next round of the European Champions League. Ronaldinho contributed just over 75 minutes on Friday before making way for David Beckham. The on-loan Galaxy player, perhaps unnerved by the presence in the stands of his former mentor and tormentor, Manchester United Coach Alex Ferguson, looked completely ill at ease. He gave the ball away with at least two appalling passes and was lucky not to be yellow-carded for a very late tackle. Based on Friday alone, Ronaldinho looks a better choice for the World Cup than Beckham, but all that could change on Tuesday when AC Milan plays host to Manchester United in the Champions League. --Grahame L. Jones