After the ball hit the net, the commentator’s voice was filled with emotion as he said, “No one in the stadium was surprised.” Only the sound of applause echoed.
The opposing players wore smiles on their faces. Was it just because it was a friendly match? After all, the team in question was Real Madrid! Could anyone from Barcelona score against them and then celebrate with laughter? This is the stuff of fantasies, something you might never see in real life.
If you watched the friendly match in Qatar last night, you would agree that it could only have been done by legends—those who can weave the past and present together with a single touch of the ball. They can bring back golden moments from the past with just a slight flick of the foot. On stage, magicians have their wands. For footballers, the story is different. They don’t get to carry around a magic wand. In fact, for some of them, the magic is within them from the start, and with practice, they craft it into something extraordinary. For Ronaldinho, it was his right foot.
In a fantasy tale, you might find a wizard revived after five hundred or a thousand years. Though older and heavier from years of sitting idle, his touch is still as sharp as ever. On stage, he’d perform with the same magic, just like before. At the Khalifa Stadium, 16 minutes into the match, Ronaldinho stood in that same way you had grown accustomed to watching him during your childhood, adolescence, youth, or even middle age.
The ball was placed on the left side of the ‘D’ in the box, just 20 yards from the post. The magician stood, one hand on his waist, glancing at the ball, then at the post, measuring the distance as if with an invisible compass. If you know Ronaldinho, or if you know David Beckham, you would also know that free-kick takers of their caliber always bend the ball to the left. It’s the same as how a right-handed cricketer hits an outswinger. The magician’s eyes were locked on the trajectory of the ball, with the whole stadium’s attention focused on him. It was as if everyone knew something was about to happen!
And happen it did. Francisco Boero, the legendary former Real Madrid goalkeeper who had once gone 709 minutes without conceding a goal in La Liga, stood by his left post, trying to prepare for the shot. As the wall parted, Juan Pablo Sorin, Ronaldinho’s teammate, stepped aside, creating a gap through which the Brazilian could aim.
But Ronaldinho, being Ronaldinho, didn’t take the low shot through the gap. Instead, he lifted the ball, curving it perfectly—the same way he had bent the ball in his youth, in Porto Alegre, creating a legend with his magical touch. Boero couldn’t move an inch until the ball was in the net. The commentator said, “Boero didn’t even twitch as the ball nestled in the net!”
Real Madrid legend Clarence Seedorf smiled. With his hand on his chest, who knows what he was saying—perhaps thanking the creator for letting him relive those golden moments, even if only for 90 minutes, through Ronaldinho. Luis Figo, always the Real Madrid man, had a brief chat with the referee and then smiled. Meanwhile, the magician—Ronaldinho—stood before the camera with his usual shrug, as if to say, “This is my job, no matter my age!”
Despite his age, Ronaldinho’s radiant smile and innocent charm had the power to transport everyone back in time. His youthful exuberance, his infectious joy, and that unforgettable smile were still there, making you fall in love with football all over again. Whether you’re a Barcelona or Brazil fan, there’s no denying that moment took you back to those childhood, teenage, or youthful days spent watching the game late into the night, feeling the magic of those memories.
As Sid Lowe, the renowned Spanish football writer for The Guardian, once put it, “What Ronaldinho did, no one else could. Not just for what he did, but for how he did it. What people felt—nostalgia, memories, emotions—was what made it special.”
Even those who never saw his best moments must have wondered, if this is how he played at 44, what was he like at 25? You might even hear former Barcelona teammate Deco say, “Ronaldinho was more talented than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.”
You might even hear Messi himself say, “Ronaldinho changed Barcelona… In his first year, he did nothing, but the fans loved him. When the trophies started coming, everyone was happy. Barcelona should always be grateful to him.”
And not just Barcelona—football fans everywhere are grateful to him. Whoever you support, you can’t help but love watching Ronaldinho play. He didn’t just use his feet; he controlled the ball with his head, chest, back, shoulders, and neck—making it his own, all while smiling. And the defenders who tried to stop him? They too would be charmed, laughing like children at his joyful tricks—just like Seedorf, Figo, or Boero did. Or perhaps, just like you did.
Ronaldinho scored 66 goals from free kicks in his career, but who remembers the numbers? It’s how he scored them, how he played—those moments of magic are what stay with us. There are few things in this world as beautiful as watching football come alive with a smile on the player’s face. A free kick is like a blank canvas, and with the touch of an artist’s brush, it becomes a masterpiece, just like the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Van Gogh, or Ronaldinho.
As he once wrote in a letter to his childhood self, published seven years ago in The Players Tribune, “As long as you have the ball at your feet, you’re a free bird. The happiest person in the world. It’s like listening to your favorite song. You want to share that joy with everyone around you.”
And for a magician who can spread joy to the world, you can’t help but wonder—what is he made of? Listen to Tostao’s words: “Ronaldinho’s dribbling was like Rivelino’s, his vision like Garson’s, his spirit and joy like Garrincha’s, his speed, skill, and power like Ronaldo and George Best, his tactical skill like Zico, and his creativity like Romario.”
But the greatest skill, as the Brazilian legend himself never said, is that Ronaldinho knows how to make you smile.
(After the 2–2 draw between the Barcelona Legends and Real Madrid Legends, Barcelona won 4–2 in the penalty shootout. But I’m sure you’re not concerned about the result!)
