Ronaldinho de Assis Moreira

Match Worn Boots

Barcelona F.C.

Did you Know?

These boots were worn by Ronaldinho in 2006. They are the iconic Nike Tiempo custom made for the player. In particular aside from the R10 embroidered on tongues and his name embroidered on sides, the thing that makes them so special and different also from any other Nike sponsored players is that these boots have a double stitching reinforcement on top made especially for Ronaldinho. In June 2003, the newly elected FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta stated, “I said we would lead Barça to the forefront of the footballing world, and for that to occur we had to sign one of these three players, David Beckham, Thierry Henry or Ronaldinho.” Henry remained with Arsenal, and Laporta then promised to bring Beckham to the club, but following his transfer to Real Madrid, Barcelona entered the running for Ronaldinho and outbid Manchester United for his signature in a €30 million deal. Ronaldinho made his Barcelona debut in a friendly against Juventus at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on 27 July, with coach Frank Rijkaard stating post match, “He has something special every time he touches the ball. He scored his first competitive goal in La Liga on 3 September 2003 against Sevilla at 1.30 a.m. local time, in a match that kicked off at five minutes past midnight. By the end of the year 2005, Ronaldinho had started to accumulate a host of personal awards. He won the inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year in September 2005, in addition to being included in the 2005 FIFPro World XI, and being named the 2005 European Footballer of the Year. Also that year, Ronaldinho was voted the FIFA World Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. He became only the third player to win the award more than once, after three-time winners Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. His domination as the world’s best footballer was undisputed as he also won the prestigious Ballon d’Or for the only time in his career. On 19 November, Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3–0 on the road in the first leg of El Clásico. After he sealed the match with his second goal, Madrid fans paid homage to his performance by applauding, so rare a tribute only Diego Maradona had ever been granted previously as a Barcelona player at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Ronaldinho stated, “I will never forget this because it is very rare for any footballer to be applauded in this way by the opposition fans.” The season is considered one of the best in Ronaldinho’s career as he was an instrumental part of Barcelona’s first Champions League title in 14 years. After winning their group convincingly, Barcelona faced Chelsea in the round of 16 for a rematch of the previous year. Ronaldinho scored a decisive goal in the second leg, going past three Chelsea defenders on the edge of the penalty area before beating the goalkeeper, sealing Barcelona’s qualification to the next round. He also contributed one goal in Barcelona’s elimination of Benfica in the quarter-finals with a 2–0 home victory. After a 1–0 semi-final aggregate win over Milan, in which Ronaldinho assisted the series’ only goal by Ludovic Giuly, Barcelona progressed to the Champions League Final, which they won on 17 May 2006 with a 2–1 beating of Arsenal. Two weeks earlier, Barcelona had clinched their second-straight La Liga title with a 1–0 win over Celta de Vigo, giving Ronaldinho his first career double. Throughout the season, Ronaldinho linked up with prolific Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o in attack, providing a number of assists to the 34 goal striker; Ronaldinho’s pass also put Eto’o through on goal in the Champions League Final from which he was brought down by Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who was sent off. Ronaldinho finished the season with a career-best 26 goals, including seventeen in La Liga and seven in the Champions League, and was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time and was named the 2005–06 UEFA Club Footballer of the Year. He was named in the six man shortlist for the 2006 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, and was selected in the FIFA World XI.