The Netherlands midfielder, the reigning Fifa and Uefa player of the year, on life at Barcelona and the pressures of being a role modelThe girl playing football in the small Dutch town of Bergen in the late 90s did not know there was a women’s game. Instead her idol was Ronaldinho. Why? “Because I was a Barça fan,” says Lieke Martens. “He had long hair like me and great dribbles. I loved him. He was technical, made a lot of goals.”Watch the Netherlands and Barcelona midfielder now and one can tell why she is a fan of the Brazil great. Her Cruyff turn, back to goal, to take out two Belgium players, leaving one on the floor, as she drove...
This week’s roundup also features a Robbie Fowler dink, a memorable ODI between Australia and England and all of Boca Juniors’ goals from 20171) Farewell Ronaldinho, you were a lot of fun. Here are all his goals for Barcelona, some tricks and flicks, futsal magnificence, keepie-uppies with a crossbar, that goal against Chelsea, trick tackling and oh David! To show he’s human there’s also this.2) En route to winning the Tournament of Champions Dustin Johnson came within inches of a hole in one on a par four after a 430 yard drive. It would have been the longest in a professional tournament but there have been some par-four aces caught on camera: Andrew Magee, Richard Green, Minjee Lee, Rahil Gangjee,...
The Brazilian has retired after an extraordinary career but his wonderful talent will be remembered for ever. ‘He changed our history,’ the Barcelona midfielder Xavi saidRonaldinho. See? You’re smiling already. Just thinking about the things he did and the way he did them, the way he was, gets you giggling. Look him up on YouTube and maybe you’ll fall for him all over again, a bit like all those defenders. Watch for long enough – it won’t take long – and you might even feel like standing to applaud, just like the Santiago Bernabéu did, an ovation for a Barcelona player, as if for all the rivalry they hadn’t so much been beaten by his genius as shared in it....