Chennai: Having landed in the city five days ago, former two-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho Gaucho was finally unveiled to the waiting and expectant media on Sunday. For someone who once had the entire world at his feet and complete mastery over anything that is spherical in shape — be it football or the world, Ronaldinho still has his fans in awe, long after his descent from the lofty pedestal.
This was the man who had the knack of leaving both his fans and bewildered opponents dazed when he ruled the turf. Currently this veritable dose of Brazilian flavour has been creating a rage across Chennai, since the time he blew kisses to his adoring supporters on arrival in the city.
A World Cup winner Ronaldinho, droopy eyes and the famous toothy grin intact, said the current Brazilian team was a trifle short on luck. “Brazil always had a profusion of great talent. The current team is not as bad as it's being made out to be,” said the 36-year-old, in the city to take part in the Premier Futsal tournament. He is the captain of the Goa 5’s franchisee.
Quizzed on what went through the mind of a genius before attempting ‘that’ free-kick against England at the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal, Ronaldinho, with the aid of an interpreter, provided revealing insights into his attention to detail. “We watched a lot of videos of David Seaman (the England goalkeeper then) in the lead-up to that quarterfinal. We figured out that he had this tendency to stand a few feet ahead at the time of a free-kick being taken. We detected that flaw and I sent the ball in.”
Touching upon his illustrious team-mate at Barcelona, Lionel Messi, the Brazilian said he still stays in regular touch with him. “Messi is clearly the best of this generation by a mile. International football will be poorer without him, now that he quit Argentina.
