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Ronaldinho – The man who plays with a smile
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known to the world as Ronaldinho, was at one time or another a favourite of every football fan. With his skill, goals, and stylish looks (maybe just his smile), everyone of a certain age wanted to be Ronaldinho. Who could blame them?
Born in the city of Porto Alegre, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Ronaldinho lost his father at the early age of eight to a heart attack and was raised by his mother, Dona Miguelina Elói Assis dos Santos, with the help of his big brother Assis and sister Deisi. The first time anyone really took notice of him as a footballer was when he was still a young boy and managed to score an incredible 23 goals in a match that his local side won, well, 23-0. He was certainly noticed again at the 1997 under 17′s World Championship which Brazil won; he scored two goals in the tournament. People started whispering how young Ronaldinho was like past players Garrincha and Didi.
Beauty and the taboo
Barcelona and Spain are widely regarded as producing some of the most uniquely stunning, aesthetically pleasing, yet ruthlessly effective football in the World today. Their Tiki-Taka, “half-a-touch” approach has provided football fans and players alike with equal amounts of joy and anguish as the blaugrana control and disect their foes with a delicate grace thought lost to the game several years previously. Players such as Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro and Pique would walk into any team playing at the height of European football today. That they have come through from the hallowed halls of La Masia, Barca’s famed academy, often sees their approach portrayed as the epitome of excellence. ‘Mes que un club’ you might say – indeed an ideology.
