RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ronaldinho says he is committed to training as hard as possible in a bid to help Atletico Mineiro win its first Brazilian Serie A championship in 42 years.
The 32-year-old has joined his teammates in a rigorous pre-season training program as the Belo Horizonte club attempts to go one step further than last year, when it finished second in the league behind Fluminense.
"We are working as hard as we can early in the year because we know all our efforts will pay off later," Ronaldinho wrote on his Twitter account.
Atletico's strenuous summer campaign continued on Monday with sprints and physical resistance tests in temperatures close to 30 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile Atletico Mineiro director of football Eduardo Maluf has revealed Ronaldinho earned almost three times his agreed base salary last season due to his stunning return to form.
The two-time FIFA world player of the year was signed by Atletico last June, days after quitting Flamengo and suing the Rio club for unpaid wages.
"At Flamengo he was earning almost one million reais (492,000 U.S. dollars) a month," Maluf said. "His base salary here was 300,000 reais with several added incentives. In the end he took home about 800,000 reais per month.
"For us he was a bargain because he made a huge difference to the team's performance. He was a game breaker. If we had paid half that price and he hadn't played well, it would have been expensive."
Maluf said Ronaldinho's return to form was the result of his new environment.
"Here he has gone back to doing what he knows best. He is with a great group of players and has answered his critics in the best way possible."
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