Ronaldinho Gaucho – A Legend In Every Sense

Dhaval Malnika

30th October 2012 | 1:14 PM

Brazil – a nation of prodigal footballing talent. From the great Pele, to the current pretender to his crown – Neymar; the South American country is full of great players, or at least fans who seem to think that the boys they see, all of 15, running out to score hat-tricks and play with confidence and skill to be the ‘Next Pele’

Some of them are undoubtedly talented, for example Santos’ current prodigy – Neymar is so good that one particular FC Barcelona might just pay 50 million euros for him if not more. An amazing feat considering he’s no older than I am and I don’t get paid a truck load of my currency of choice for working. The talent in Brazil then, I have established is mind-blowing. Ultra-mega awesome players all over the pitch in defence, midfield and attack.

However, since the glory days of O Rei, no one has quite captured our imaginations. No one that is, apart from one weird tall guy from Gremio, with buck teeth and some outrageous ball control. Yes, you guessed right. I’m talking about Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known to you and me as Ronaldinho Gaucho.

From an early age in Porto Alegre, Ronaldinho was a great trickster. His friends knew playing against him was only fun if he didn’t turn up because he had such spectacular ball control and such an amazing vision and range of passing. Coupled with his near-6 foot height and searing pace, Gaucho was a future star.

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