Ronaldinho has spent the past six months in Brazil, leisurely playing out his football career for Flamengo. The samba boy remains unfit and a sucker for late night dance parties and, not surprisingly, he’s only made four appearances for the club and scored twice (one of them the clincher for the Rio de Janeiro State Championship).
Be that as it may, you still cannot avoid the undeniable truth that Ronaldinho possesses the best ball skills of any player on this planet…when he’s not moving at full speed in an actual match. Does that make videos like the one above any less satisfying to watch? Hardly.
Warming up for another 90 minutes on the bench, Ronaldinho can be seen juggling and contemplating which club to visit after the match. In a moment of elation after deciding where to go, he punts the ball sky-high, turns around, waddles a few steps, and KILLS IT with the barest of touches. Now for some reason or another, his dope of a teammate thought he could sneak in and steal the ball. Instead, he unknowingly sets himself up for a lesson in respecting your elders.
One touch, inside-snake, nutmeg, embarrassment.
It’s too bad Ronaldinho no longer has the drive to perform like this week in week out. Even worse, the video ends just before he collapses from the wind sprint and is immediately carried to the VIP lounge of the recently chosen discoteca.
I am in complete agreement. No one has given me goosebumps more than Dinho has, and I think Dinho has more skill than Messi in terms of thought process and the ability to execute training pitch moves in real life games (see Zidane, only w/ hair. a lot of it). The guys is insane.
Question no one asks – would Lionel Messi be the best player in the world if Ronaldinho still tried?
Great question. I think if Ronaldinho tried and could replicate the way he played back in 2006 consistently, then Messi probably wouldn’t have received a player of the year award yet. What Dinho lacked in speed (compared to Messi) he made up for in intelligence.
I’ve seen Messi in some friendlies. But to this day, Ronaldinho is still the best player I have ever seen in the flesh.