I present you ‘the greatest football player’ of all time- ‘Ronaldinho Gaucho’.
Ronaldinho’s smile says it all. This guy just enjoyed playing football. The sheer joy he used to feel while playing football could even be felt by the people watching him.
The way he used to make people enjoy football has never ever happened before. It was as if he was made for football and football was made for him.
He is considered by many as the most skillful football player of all time due to his unparalleled football skills and magical tricks.
If we consider him when he was at the peak of his football prowess and compare it with the other football giants, no one comes closer. He was on a whole different league.
There’s no doubt about it that Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, C Ronaldo, Messi, G.Best are the giants of this game but no one has ever done anything like Ronaldinho.
Let me give some of the instances which prove that Ronaldinho certainly is the greatest of all time and things which he has done, no one could do and perhaps no one will be able to.
It’s not just his dribbling skills and fancy tricks that make him the greatest but also his game sense, passing ability, through balls, free kicks, ball control, finishing, use of body for ball possession, creativity and many other important aspects of football.
Instance 1- When Ronaldinho juggled the ball during a match to control it despite two Athletico Bilbao players charging at him with the intent to physically overpower him and get the ball and nonetheless everyone knows what happened.
The reactions of Audience say it all. Only someone of the calibre of Ronaldinho could do something like this.
Instance 2 : Messi’s goal vs Getafe is famous because he dribbled and went past 5 players including the goalkeeper but Ronaldinho has done that so many times. The only difference is he couldn’t score a goal few times.
In a match against Real Sociedad in which Ronaldinho gave one of his best performances, he dribbled past almost 5 players as if they weren’t there on the ground.
In a match against Haiti, Ronaldinho dribbled past 5 players including the Goalkeeper and scored a goal.
He has done that so many times, even more than Lionel Messi and Maradona. I cannot mention or show all the instances here because then the answer would be too long.
Instance 3: Creative Game style and Exceptional goal assisting (Through balls) ability.
Ronaldinho despite being so skillful was never a solo player. He was a playmaker. He is well known for his passing skills and through balls. Just watch his videos on youtube to get a glimpse of how good he was with passing.
When in one of the matches he dribbled past few players and provided a wonderful assist to his teammate.
These are some of the instances which prove that he had traits of that of an ultimate player. There are few more points which I would like to highlight.
Ronaldinho was a right-footed player but he was well versed with his left foot too.
The way Ronaldinho made use of his body to keep the possession of ball is notable and only an extremely good player can do that.
His first touches were extremely good and flawless which is very important if you are a footballer.
He could use all his body parts to control ball and he was one of the best free kick takers.
He was an assist man, a team player and also at times used to take the responsibility of winning a game upon his shoulders.
Ronaldinho is the only player in the history of Football to have won every major championships.
He is also one of the few people who got standing ovation from the Real Madrid fans in Santiago Bernabeu .
But alas, his success couldn’t last longer due to his lavish lifestyle, maybe because he won everything there was to win, in a very short period of time.
Had he been as consistent and disciplined as C.Ronaldo and Messi, everyone would have clearly acknowledged him as the Greatest of all time without a doubt.
As they say, “His Candle burned faster, but his flame was the brightest”.
Thank you Ronaldinho for making me fall in love with Football.