At Anfield, home of Liverpool Football Club WWI5T, we have a player the fans named god.
I remember watching the sports news the day he left the club, people were walking around in disbelief. A few months ago god returned to heaven to do what he does best, scoring heaps of goals.
But this post is not about Robbie Fowler, it is dedicated to another genius of the Beautiful Game.
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira a.k.a Ronaldinho is a genius in his own lifetime. A friend of my said we do not realise how good he is because he is here now and playing now. Unlike legends no longer playing he has to prove himself to us week in week out and sometimes that exposure blunts his genius in our eyes.
I was watching a match a few months ago when the man pulled a move so spectacular I could not believe my eyes. It is impossible to explain in words what he did but I was far from the only one impressed. The player he ended up passing the ball to at the end of the move did not move because he, and the rest of us, assumed there was no way Ronaldinho would get the ball to him. We had not factored in genius. The TV commentators were silent for around 20 seconds (and that is a life time on live sports commentary) when they picked their jaws of the ground the first commentator said, “I not having that.” the second one replied, “We might as well pack our bags and go home now, well never see anything to top that.”
LOL.
Nike has launched a new ad campaign for the World Cup called Joga Bonito (Portuguese for “play beautiful.”). The ad campaign features most of Nike’s global football stars but is heavily dominated by the Brazilians. That makes economic sense. Brazil is everyone’s second team and many people would support them against their own country too!
One of the ads features Ronaldinho. It is called Brazilian Ping Pong. You need to see it to believe it. A massive debate is raging online. Is it real? Is it fake? There is even a spoof ad doing the rounds. Everyone has their own opinion. Yeah it may be camera tricks, CGI, juju or something. But would you bet against the man’s skills?
Pamoja Tuangamize Ukimwi
Kaybees - Thanks for voting!
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April 19, 2006 at 7:03 am
deeply perturbed
yeah got to agree with you ronaldinho is one guy that never fails to entertain and amaze all when he touches the ball. if you saw the match with AC Milan you’ll know why, the build up to the only goal was superb and I am sure we will see more of him. Cant wait for the world cup to kick off though to view more of his expertise the guy is just too good.
April 19, 2006 at 7:36 am
Ms K
LOL I am obviously squatting on your blog!!
I have always loved Ronaldinho (and no, not because he’s cute! Shindwe!) because he is so…. phenomenally brilliant and HE MAKES IT LOOK SO EASY!!
As in seriously lakini, he’s so graceful and fluid and he always plays so effortlessly! The brilliance is just in his blood. He’s always enjoying himself.
And then there’s that smile he flashes just after one of those moves, like “Heh heh did you see that!”. Ama the flash of irritation that passes over his face when one of his team mates doesn’t move fast enough to finish what he’s started… followed by that easy shrug like “usijali, there’s more where that came from”.
Its so….. I can’t describe it. Lakini I stand by something I was arguing with someone about last year. Ronaldihno is, in my opinion, the best there is right now.
Lakini did you see that pass jana? Wazimu!
April 19, 2006 at 2:17 pm
kabinti
Hi!
I also saw that Ronaldinho add and was one of the naysayers - as in that pingpong thing was camera tricks - lakini I have to give credit where it’s due, he will definitely be a legend no matter what.
April 19, 2006 at 2:26 pm
msaniixl
The ad campaign is great…can’t even front on the pitchman, cantona brings back memories.
Ronaldhino is on his own level…the clips i see are just unbelievable
April 20, 2006 at 1:06 pm
Adrian
i’m absolutely loving this joga bonito campaign!! haven’t loved a campaign this much since nike (surprise) unsleashed the freestyle one a few years back (with beats and stuff from the ball - especially the basketball one).
if i’m not wrong, the ads should be getting better and better as we move closer to the world cup - like the new brazil national team in dressing room. good times ahead!
and as for ronaldinho; absolutely fabolous!!! and the crazy thing? dude hasn’t reached his prime yet!! si they say that an athlete’s prime is somewhere 27 - 29. once again, good times ahead - really good times!