There are plays that are remembered for what you see, and others for what is behind them.
With Ronaldinho, it is often the latter.
Some of his most memorable actions did not start in a match, but long before, in something that at the time seemed like just another idea.
Or even madness.
That’s what takes shape now with the documentary series Ronaldinho: The One and Only, where the Brazilian recalls one of his favorite free-kicks.
The one in which he decided not to lift the ball over the wall, but to pass it underneath, taking advantage of the moment when the players jump
One move was not enough
Ronaldinho says he had tried it before. In training, trying out minimal spaces, looking for the ball to go right through that gap that opens up when the wall jumps to block the shot.
Some people didn’t take it seriously.
The idea seemed more like a curious attempt than something applicable in a match.
But he stayed and, at the right moment, he appeared.
During a game, he read the play: he knew that the wall was going to jump and that, for a second, it was going to leave that space free on the ground.
That’s where he decided to strike.
The ball went under everyone and ended up in the goal.
But what changes the reading is not the play itself, but understanding that it was not born there.
That it was not a reaction of the moment, but a decision that had been worked on for some time, even when it did not seem to make sense.
And that connects with something that always accompanied his way of playing.
Not everything he did was spontaneous.
Some things, although they did not seem so, were already thought of. All that was needed was the moment for them to stop seeming impossible.
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