Back when Real’s fans first paid tribute to a Barca player

The Bernabeu just could not help it.
Although the player was wearing the jersey of hated enemy Barcelona, and although he had just done evil to their beloved Real Madrid team in the 2005 edition of El Clasico.
But Madrid’s famous stadium could not help but, and so they did the unthinkable: They stood up and paid tribute to an otherwise hated opponent from their worst enemy.
A deafening cheer grew at the Bernabeu – in the midst of the disappointment of a defeat – and turned into pure surrender to the beauty of football with standing ovations to Ronaldinho, who had just split Real Madrid apart with dribbles, passes and two gorgeous solo goals, done with a fantasy and technical perfection from another world.
The Bernabeu surrendered to a footballer whose talent was spectacular.

From the beginning, it was very difficult not to see Ronaldinho’s talent.
He could do anything with a ball – except make it talk.
Ronaldo, as he is actually called, but with the addition -inho, ie Little Ronaldo, because he was small and slender of his age and always played with much older children, was raised with a ball on his feet and played on the streets and on the beach and as is normal in Brazil a lot of futsal.
As a 13-year-old, he appeared for the first time in the Brazilian football media after a youth match, where he had scored 23 goals. In a victory of 23-0…
He won the U17 World Cup with Brazil and played youth football for the big club Gremio, went to Europe and PSG, and in 2003 he switched to Barcelona, where he played the best football of his life.
Like he did in 97 games for Brazil’s canary yellow national team;
O Selecao, where he won both the Copa America and in 2002 his country’s fifth World Cup title as part of one of history’s wildest attacking trios, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho.
With his clubs, he reaped numerous trophies. At Barca he won the Spanish championship and the Champions League, at AC Milan the Italian championship – and he even got a Ballon d’Or.
Ronaldinho was a fantasy player. There was no trick that the Brazilian ball wizard could not perform. He revived an old, forgotten Brazilian specialty, the dribble ‘elastico’ and made it his signature detail. Check it out on YouTube!
A pair of huge front teeth marked an inspiring smile and was not a fake facade, but merely showed who Ronaldinho was on the field: he loved in his heart to perform tricks and technical wizardry even in the very biggest matches. And he made others smile with his game.
But the Brazilian was not just a show player. He was hyper-efficient with an overview and a kicking technique from another world. A ‘smiling killer’.
When Ronaldinho stopped in Barcelona, his young student on the pitch was ready to take over.
The teenager’s name was Lionel Messi.

23 June, 2023

Facebook Instagram Linkedin

Useful Links

Training Exercises
Club Solutions
Privacy policy

Address and Contacts

Jannik Riis
JR@technicafootball.com
+45 23 25 73 77
Brovej 20 A, 8800 Viborg, Denmark
CVR.36727659

News
Concept
Storytelling
About Technica
Club Solutions

News
Concept
Storytelling
About Technica
Club Solutions

Useful Links

Address and Contacts

Made with love & care by itpilot