Happy 40th Birthday to the legend that is Ronaldinho! Today should be a day where we celebrate the genius of one of the greatest footballers of a generation, and marvel at his staggering football career, where he dazzled fans with his never-ending arsenal of tricks, feints and jaw-dropping strikes.
Unfortunately for Ronnie, he must spend his birthday this year in prison after being detained on March 4 for attempting to enter Paraguay with a fake passport. He was officially arrested on March 6 and now faces up to six months behind bars.
These must be troubling times for the Brazilian legend; however, we’re not going to dwell on the criminal charges he will face, but rather focus on the wonderful career of a man who brought joy to so many.
The Porto-Alegre born superstar seemed light-years ahead of his time on the pitch, ghosting past defenders on a consistent basis, while beaming out his iconic smile which gained him enormous worldwide popularity.
Back in 2005, the football world was enthralled by this 25-year-old with an extremely questionable hair-cut and abilities on the ball fans and pundits alike had never seen before.
Having arrived at Camp Nou two years prior to a Barcelona team, that was, let’s face it, one of the worst we’ve seen in recent times, Ronaldinho was now at the forefront of a revolution in Catalonia.
It didn’t take him long to cement his legacy at Barca, lifting both the La Liga and Champions League titles and winning his sole Ballon d’Or in 2005.
His captain at the time, Carles Puyol, was quoted saying after such a successful season: “The greatest compliment I could give him is that he’s given Barcelona our spirit back.”
Nike, in perhaps their greatest marketing idea since they collaborated with basketball royalty MJ on the original Air Jordan’s, decided to put Ronaldo de Asis Moreira to work in order to promote their latest pair of Nike Tiempo boots.
What followed is almost three minutes of footage that would spark controversial debate over its legitimacy and would likewise inspire YouTube users to crown the clip as the first to reach a million views on the video hosting site.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the film, Nike released a remastered version, promoting the limited-edition release of Tiempo Touch Gold boots.
Watch and marvel at the skills of a true legend of the game!