To see or not to watch football, that’s the question – The World is a Ball

“It’s not something that appeals to me to see 90 minutes. The good thing about football is playing, watching is not my thing.”

In a video interview with Argentine daily Olé, Ronaldinho Gaucho, sporting a wiry white beard on his chin at 41, said he does not watch football matches.

When questioned by his interlocutor, Mariano Dayan, about the most recent Copa America, in which Argentina defeated Brazil in the final, Ronaldinho refrained from commenting, implying that he had not followed, at least not attentively, the tournament.

“I don’t see much football. I look at the best moments, the goals, but seeing the 90 minutes is not something I like”, declared the two-time best player in the world (2004 and 2005), when he was playing for Barcelona, ​​and world champion with Brazil in the Copa de 2002 (Korea/Japan).

Ronaldinho’s statement may cause some estrangement. How does someone who has been so successful in a particular sport get bored watching a game of that sport?

One gets the impression that, as this is his profession, every player likes not only to play but also to watch football. To see great plays, to observe tactical aspects, to have fun.

And it’s not like that. Ronaldinho’s case of disinterest is not unprecedented.

Welsh Gareth Bale, from Real Madrid, who has had his best moments and is now down, prefers to watch golf than football.

Messi declared that he preferred to play with his children, and Neymar, to play video games, than to stay on the couch watching colleagues chasing the ball.

Are Ronaldinho, Bale, Messi and Neymar exceptions or is there a considerable amount of football players (or former players) who just like to play, not interested in watching the matches on TV?

Here is an interesting behavioral research that still needs to be carried out, both quantitatively and qualitatively, so that a conclusion can be reached with due grounding.

Revealed by Grêmio, Ronaldinho also played, in addition to Barcelona, ​​at Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, Flamengo, Atlético-MG –for which he won the Libertadores–, in the Mexican Querétaro and Fluminense.

He last performed for the tricolor team in Rio de Janeiro, in January 2016, at the Florida Cup. His retirement was only made official by Assis, his brother and manager, two years later.

Away from the official championships, he played some exhibition games and used part of his time to play games with friends. He also exhibited in beach soccer and futsal.

His greatest post-retirement moment of fame, however, took place outside the fields, courts, or beaches.

In early 2020, Ronaldinho was arrested in Paraguay, along with Assis, for entering the country with falsified documents. He was only released, upon payment of a fine, after nearly six months.

Not even when he was incarcerated, however, the gaucho from Porto Alegre no longer had contact with what he likes so much: football.

No watching him on TV, of course.

With the smile that is peculiar to him, highlighting the protruding incisor teeth, he participated in football matches with the other inmates, scoring goals and giving assists.