The Rabbit Toothed Assassin

I would like to start my blog by paying my tribute to Ronaldinho.

He lifted us up from the brink of relegation to 2^nd place in La Liga, in the very first season he was signed as a promising 24 year-old. Madrid didn’t want him to be one of their ‘Galacticos’ because they thought he was too ugly! He made them eat their words a couple of seasons later when he single handedly destroyed them at ‘The Bernabau’ and earned a standing ovation from the Castillans; a rare and miraculous display of appreciation for a Professional Footballer dressed in the Blaugrana. His ball control, trickery, pace, shooting skills left every defender in La Liga panting for breath. Surely there wasn’t a competitor for the 2004/2005 World Footballer of the Year award. He also played an vital part in Barca’s Champions League success and the consecutive titles he won under Rijkaard.

Its been two long years since that very moment. Two years of misery, failure and pure bad luck. It all started with rumors of his late night partying style, conflicts within team-mates and unruly behavior on the training camp. None testified to what was written in the Papers, what was being reported in the Media . Yet people wanted to point their fingers at him and laugh. Despite his growing waist line, despite the jeers of the critics he kept on doing what

he does best complemented with a smile on his face. Sadly, he was miles apart from the “R10” everyone had witnessed a couple of seasons ago. Rijkaard would play him whenever he was fit, but unfortunately he didn’t deliver. His time had come.

Rumors of a transfer started flooding in Jan but the club decided to stick with him till the end of the season and give him his last chance to repay the faith shown in him. The injury against Villarreal in March ruled him out for the rest of the season and that was that. There was no coming back for him or Barca who managed to win just 3 out of their last 13 games. Barca finished the season 19 points behind their bitter rivals Real Madrid and had to face the embarrassing deed of giving them a Guard of Honor at the Bernabeu in the return leg. It was

the end of a glorious era for Barca and their charismatic icon, Ronaldinho.

Despite all of the controversies, remember him for the good times. Remember his magical moments which include his very first goal in his very first game against Sevilla, the silky touches, the bicycle against Villarreal, The “Elastico”, The Ronaldinho “No Look Pass”, the two astounding goals against Chelsea, The Smile, The Free Kicks & all the other memories he brought to the club. Despite his departure, he will always have a special place in the heart of every Catalan for many years to come.

Barca continue with their tradition of not treating their former stars well (Rivaldo, Romario, Maradona, Kluivert etc) and this time they might as well have made the biggest blunder in the history of all transfers by selling their charismatic play-maker, Ronnie. What happens from here, no one knows. But one thing’s for sure, that no matter where he goes, he will be back to dazzle the defenders again. Wish you all the luck, Ronnie.