Luca Brecel compares himself to football icon Ronaldinho ahead of Crucible return – ‘It’s all about entertaining and fun’

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Luca Brecel is seen as one of snooker's most flamboyant characters, and he has compared himself to former Barcelona and Brazil superstar Ronaldinho. Brecel, who won the world title two years ago but has not had a tournament success since, begins his latest Crucible campaign with a first-round match against Welshman Ryan Day. Watch the 2025 World Championship live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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Luca Brecel has compared himself to football icon Ronaldinho as he begins his latest attempt to win the World Snooker Championship.

Brecel, who won the world title two years ago, starts his first-round match against Ryan Day on Wednesday.

The Belgian is seen as one of the sport's most flamboyant characters on and off the table. During that run to Crucible glory in 2023, he openly admitted to partying and staying up late.

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He hasn't won a tournament since that triumph, and some pundits have questioned his commitment to the sport. But that's not something that seems to greatly trouble Brecel.

"I just don't really think a lot about winning tournaments and stuff like that. I just like playing the game," he told Midnite.

"I'm more of a Ronaldinho type of player in snooker, so it's all about just entertaining and fun! And also having a nice life around it, that's more important to me! So yeah, no pressure."

Ronaldinho will be remembered as a modern great of football. He played for a host of big clubs, including Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. He also represented Brazil for 14 years and helped them to win the 2002 World Cup.

Brecel, who is also regularly in triathlon training, produced a memorable set of performances for World Championship glory two years ago. He came from behind to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals. And he then recovered from 14-5 behind to beat Si Jiahui in the semi-finals, before overcoming Mark Selby in a titanic final.

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Not many seem to be tipping Brecel for a repeat this spring, but the 30-year-old - who has been posting pictures from Portugal on social media this week - insists he is under no pressure heading into the tournament.

"I’ve not really thought about the possibility of winning a second world title," Brecel added. "I'm not that interested in it. If it happens it happens, but if it doesn't, then it's all good.

"I'm always going to be an outsider. If I play well, then anything can happen, you know, but I can also lose easily in the first round. That's just my game because I play really attacking, but if it works then I can win it.

"I feel much more experienced coming in as a past winner but less pressure as well. It is going to be difficult to win the tournament but I'm playing well and we'll see how it goes."

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