Despite his powerful, aggressive style of play, he was also known to be a classy, studious figure off the pitch.
He is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in footballing history and one of the best players of his generation.
Ten-man Portugal struggled without captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Manchester City's Yaya Toure says he will decide about his international future with the Ivory Coast this week
Ronaldinho is renowned for his technique, tricks, dribbling, overhead kicks, no-look passes and free kicks.
Bongani Zungu scored in stoppage time to salvage a 1:1 draw for South Africa against Nigeria and Konate brace gives Senegal victory over Ghana in friendly.
Former France international Luis Fernandez is poised to take over as coach of Guinea and replace compatriot Michel Dussuyer
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) confirmed they are looking for a foreign coach to replace Honour Janza who is currently at the helm
If ambition had a league table, English Premier League club Sunderland would top it.
Algeria lost their first game since exiting the Africa Cup of Nations in the quarter-finals, losing 1:0 to Qatar in a friendly
GROUP F
Match 58
Day 16
Tunisia vs Netherlands 1:3
Goal Tunisia
Hassan Mastouri (54')
Goals Netherlands
Ellyes Skhiri (3')
Brian Brobbey (7')
Jan Paul van Hecke (62')
Netherlands
Tunisia