Just like you and me, Ronaldinho was born and raised somewhere. But that’s where the similarities end.
There’s no explaining how, from the point of birth until turning 18, our paths and Ronaldinho’s diverged so enormously. While we were just starting to recognize our weaker foot, Ronaldinho was terrorizing the Brasileirao with Gremio and ending the career of Brazilian World Cup-winning captain Dunga.
FIFA doesn’t have a good record of awarding World Cups to the best countries, instead opting to award the world’s premier sporting event to nations with questionable backgrounds, from Mussolini’s fascist Italy to Argentina’s military junta.
Barring nuclear war, the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by Russia, a nation that has in the last decade invaded multiple countries, illegally annexed territory, led insurrections in border nations, murdered opposition journalists and denied rights of the LGBT community. Oh and that whole U.S. election thing that has yet to be sorted out.
Demetrio Albertini enjoys a legendary status amongst those who watched AC Milan and the Italian national team in the 90s, but the midfielder’s remarkable talent isn’t widely recognized outside of that sphere. As a ball-winning midfielder that orchestrated play from deep, Albertini doesn’t have a massive highlight reel with regards to goals, although he did score a number of long-range screamers and some gorgeous free kicks.
Soccer is an evolving game. From the original codification in 1863 to the modern institution of video replay, football’s lawmakers are constantly tweaking the rules.
The following is a timeline of the major changes made to the game.
If you’ve ever refereed at any level of the game, you’ll know that the job’s garments ain’t no thang. The referee’s jersey is comfortably oversized, lightweight and sensible, what with its dual pockets and smart collar. Hell, you’ve probably slightly copped out and pretended to be the legendary Pierluigi Collina for Halloween. It’s fun to record peoples’ indiscretions into a little book and theatrically show them a card, all while lounging comfortably.
But outside of Halloween and off the pitch, it’s never been entirely socially acceptable to dress like a ref.
In the summer of 1998, Nigerian wizard Jay-Jay Okocha arrived at Paris Saint-Germain for an exceptionally large fee of $18 million, making him the most expensive African player at the time. World renowned for his creativity, dribbling and playmaking, PSG’s capture of Okocha was not unlike this summer’s signing of Neymar.