Ronaldinho had a quick ascension in Gremio; he moved from the juvenile category to the professional team, skipping the juniors category. In the professional team, his first coach was Luiz Felipe Scolari. In 1997, Brazil won the Sub-17 Championship, and Ronaldinho was elected the best player of the tournament. In 1999, the scored the final goal which gave the championship to Grêmio over Internacional.

In June of 1999, Brazil was preparing to play the America Cup. The coach of the Brazilian team was Wanderley Luxemburgo; in a match in São Paulo, Edilson mocked at the adversaries; Luxemburgo dismissed Edilson and called Ronaldinho to replace him in the team which played the America Cup.
Ronaldinho debuted for the Brazilian team on June 26th, in a friendly match against Latvia.
In the America Cup, Brazil was easily winning the first match against Venezuela, and in the second half Luxemburgo put Ronaldinho to play. In one of his first participations, Ronaldinho dribbled several adversaries and scored a spectacular goal. From that day, Ronaldinho was securing a place in the Brazilian team.

Soon, proposals from richer teams were tempting Gremio; in 2000, French club Paris Saint-Germain offered 7 million euros. Ronaldinho wanted to move, but Grêmio wanted to wait for the World Cup, hoping that the player would be worth more.
In February of 2001, the contract between Gremio and Ronaldinho finished. The player unilaterally decided to go to Paris. Gremio appealed in courts in Brazil and FIFA.
Ronaldinho did not play until June of 2001, while the case was being settled. In June, FIFA and the Labor Justice in Brazil decided that Paris Saint-Germain should pay 4.5 million euros, and Ronaldinho was released from Gremio.