Ronaldinho was not only a footballer. He was an "Entertainer", a Magician. Its very important for an entertainer to stay motivated & be loved by his enchanted audience. Ronaldinho lost that desire to perform at the highest level.
He had conquered it all. Champions league,World cup, Spanish league, Copa America....everything...there wasn't any challenge left for him. His case is reminiscent of the George Best story. Even he had done it all & at a far younger age than Ronnie; Even he lost that motivation & was more attracted by the stardom that football offers. Later on in his life, he talked about it in an interview. Coming back to Ronaldinho, here was a man who was the purest form of an entertainer that the world of football has ever seen. He loved the love that he received from across the world. He craved it, he did things on the field that made people stay glued to their T.V sets; He was intoxicating.
2006 World Cup...The Turning Point-
I think Ronaldinho lost the plot after the 2006 world cup. In 2006, Brazil had a star studded squad boasting the likes of Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka, Cafu, Roberto Carlos along side Ronaldinho . In many quarters of Brazil it was assumed that the 2006 WC had Brazil written all over it & it was just a mere formality to play the tournament. But as fate would have it, Brazil got knocked out by France in that WC & a lot of people held Ronaldinho responsible as he was the shining jewel in that already illustrious Brazil squad. There were reports of him partying before matches & getting involved with women etc. He was really demonized for that loss.
Partydinho-
The story took a turn for the worse next season at Barcelona. On top of the bad WC, Ronaldinho returned to Barcelona over weight. He had acquired an extreme liking for the party culture of Catalunya. Although his brand value was not diminishing (AC Milan had a bid turned down for him which was close to 100 Million Euros ) ,in reality the real Ronaldinho never returned from that World Cup. He was shooting more & more advertisements & was becoming more of a trickster than a footballer. He still had enough class to score around 25 goals for Barça that season, but Ronaldinho's star was on the downfall.
The Emergence of Messi:
The final nail in Ronaldinho's coffin was the emergence of a diminutive teenager by the name of Lionel Messi.
Barça did not match the heights that they had achieved in the previous season. After a thorough analysis, the Barça hierarchy blamed Ronnie & Deco as the culprits. The duo did not influence the game that much & were a bad influence on Messi due to their rash partying habits. It was then decided that the duo would be shipped off. Ronaldinho was sold to AC Milan for close to 25Million Euros (2 seasons ago they had made a bid of around 100M ) & Deco went to chelsea. The Barça management instilled their faith in Messi & handed him the prestigious "#10" . They had a new coach in Guardiola & the rest is history.
Post Barcelona:
Many expected(especially his fans, including me) Ronaldinho to rise again & be a force . He did show the flashes of genius ,but they were decreasing in frequency as the season rolled by. It just fortifies the fact that talent alone is never the mantra for success.
What a shame...a player blessed with so much talent...& we couldn't get all of it. But he got it all. Players like Ronaldinho are cut from a different cloth. They have the talent to be counted amongst the best ever, but in reality they are happy to be just a part of the whole picture :)
For me, I will always remember the player who scored that outrageuos free kick against England (2002 WC), the buck toothed magician who always gives me goosebumps whenever I think of his magic, the ever smiling, ever graceful Ronaldinho who brought smiles to fans & rival fans alike (he got a standing ovation from Real madrid fans at the Bernebeau, home of Real Madrid ) , the flawed genius. Ronaldinho10.
Ronaldinho has been responsible for his own downfall, with his attitude, mentality and lifestyle being the reasons.This is the “rise and fall” of Ronaldinho, but the fall was mostly painful. Though it was more about his fall, We will definitely post another one on Ronaldinho where we cover about the star he was, Magic that he used bring on the pitch and more over a smiling assassin that he was.
Comments
Post a Comment