Ronaldinho is widely considered as one of the best Brazilian players of all time and someone who also dazzled Tannadice Park on a rare occasion back in the 2000s. Ronaldinho’s days at FC Barcelona helped him become an iconic figure in football, as he won the Ballon d’Or award during his time at the club and helped them win the La Liga and Champions League titles.
The Brazilian was a pure box-office talent with an insane skill to torment defenders with his dribbling, pace and accuracy in the final third. Ronaldinho did have his vices outside the pitch, gaining a notorious reputation for partying late into night and often getting into bad drinking sessions that didn’t allow him to keep up the ascendancy in his career.
However, the iconic winger did grace the Tannadice Park once in his career in which the Dundee United faithful were able to get a first-hand experience of just how good he can be on the ball, with a rather dazzling photo of him in the ground now going viral on social media.
When Did Ronaldinho Visit Tannadice Park?
Recently, a picture of Ronaldinho is starting to make the rounds on Twitter where he can be geared up in Barcelona attire and waiting for the ball in training. In the background, one can see the Tannadice Park stands and also a corresponding building in the background as well.
In the current day and age of photoshop, there was some wondering if this was edited or fabricated. But that is not the case for this because Ronaldinho did, in fact, actually visit Tannadice Park and play off against Dundee United during his time with the Blaugrana.
This picture was taken when Ronaldinho visited the stadium back in 2007 as part of Barcelona’s pre-season campaign where they travelled to Scotland for this friendly game. It happened on July 26, 2007 when the-then Frank Rijkaard-managed Barcelona side decided to face off against Dundee, who had finished in 9th place in the 2006/07 Scottish Premiership season.
What Happened In Ronaldinho’s Visit To Tannadice Park?
Ronaldinho was named in the starting lineup for the game by Rijkaard, alongside players like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o. However, it wasn’t really the walk in the park that Barcelona had hoped for the pre-season friendly to be.
Of course, everyone on the pitch, Ronaldinho included, played at a relatively average pace because this being a friendly game in which players were trying to improve their general fitness levels. Ronaldinho, however, was adamant about putting on a show for the fans in attendance.
Early in the first half, the Brazilian winger earned a free-kick at the edge of the box and then curled the attempt just wide of the post – as the East Stand watched on. He repeatedly tried getting the ball on his feet and dribbling his way into promising areas and five minutes before half-time, the winger flicked a pass to play Eto’o through on goal, but his attempt was saved.
Ronaldinho was taken off at half-time, but his performance ended up earning the appreciation of the Scottish faithful. Barcelona ended up winning the game thanks to a late penalty from Thierry Henry, but were put under pressure by a spirited Dundee side and there were some grumbling from the home faithful due to some dodgy refereeing and a goal from Barry Robson being ruled out.
To his credit, Ronaldinho didn’t really treat this game as a useless friendly game and put his effort into entertaining the Tannadice Park faithful and leaving his footprint into the iconic stadium.
