Ronaldinho

The most joyful footballer who ever played — two Ballon d'Or, a World Cup and the Barcelona performance that made Real Madrid fans applaud.

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1980. He grew up playing barefoot in the streets of a poor neighbourhood — a background that shaped the instinctive, joyful quality of his football. Paris Saint-Germain signed him in 2001 before Barcelona paid £21 million in 2003. His five Barcelona seasons produced two La Liga titles and the 2006 Champions League — the peak being his 2004-05 season in which he won the Ballon d'Or and produced a performance against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu that prompted the Madrid crowd to rise and applaud him — a gesture that had not been extended to an opposing player in living memory. He won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and the Copa América in 2004. His combination of skill, creativity, humour and the sheer visible joy he brought to every game made him the most beloved individual footballer of his generation. His free kick technique — placing one foot on the ball at the wall, then moving and curling the ball round — was his trademark and is still replicated worldwide. His later career was marked by declining commitment and off-field issues that contrast with his peak brilliance. He was voted the greatest player of the 2000s in multiple polls.

• World Cup (2002)
• Ballon d'Or 2x (2004,2005)
• Champions League (2006)
• La Liga 2x
• Copa América (2004)