1997: Turns professional for Brazilian club Gremio; top-scorer and world champion in his first age-group international tournament, the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Egypt.
1999: Senior Brazil debut against Latvia; first international goal against Paraguay at the Copa America, which Brazil won; top scorer at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Mexico, where Brazil finished runner-up.
2001: Signs with Paris St. Germain.2002: Wins World Cup in Japan and Korea; stars in the quarter-final against England with one stunning assist and the famous free-kick goal before being sent off.
2003: Signs for Barcelona, struggling in the mid table of the Spanish League.
2004: Helps Barcelona to second place in the Spanish League after a poor start to the 2003-04 season; voted FIFA World Footballer of the Year.
2005: Wins the Spanish League with Barcelona and the Confederations Cup with Brazil; voted World Footballer of the Year for the second successive year; adds the European Footballer of the Year crown and the inaugural FIFPro World Footballer of the Year award; Barcelona introduces a buy-out clause of GBP145m to ward off Chelsea's interest in him.
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