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The First YouTube Video To Reach A Million Views Had To Be Ronaldinho

The First YouTube Video To Reach A Million Views Had To Be Ronaldinho

Happy 37th Birthday to one of the greatest.

Anonymous

Anonymous

Featured Image: Nike/Youtube

First and foremost, Happy 37th Birthday to one of the greatest footballers of a generation. A man who single handedly inspired and taught millions to play our game with a smile on your face. Ronaldinho, a man of grace and class.

Secondly, years before Kim Kardashian balanced a champagne glass on her arse, the internet was being broken by a lad from Porto Alegre armed with a pair of Nike Tiempos and a football.

In 2005, the football world was enraptured by a 25-year-old with a questionable haircut and a smile bigger than Sugarloaf mountain. Having arrived at the Camp Nou two years previously to a Barcelona team that was, quite frankly, on its arse, Ronaldinho was now at the forefront of a revolution in Catalonia, less than a year away from a La Liga and Champions League double and a couple of months from lifting his sole Ballon d'Or.

Ronny
Ronny

But the confines of one or two 90 minute exhibitions every week, where the Brazilian playmaker tormented defences in La Liga and the Champions League, were not the only chances the world were given to marvel at the beguiling beauty of Ronaldinho's footwork. Nike, in perhaps their greatest marketing idea since slapping Michael Jordan's silhouette across millions of pairs of trainers, decided to put Ronaldo de Assis Moreira to work in order to promote their latest pair of Nike Tiempo boots.

What followed is almost three minutes of footage that would inspire ferocious debate over it's legitimacy and would likewise inspire Youtube users to crown the video as the first to reach a million views on the video hosting site.

Honestly, even if Ronaldinho's unerring accuracy isn't genuine, is that going to prevent you enjoying the video? If so, football's probably not for you.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the film, Nike released a remastered version, promoting the limited edition release of Tiempo Touch of Gold boots. It's the same advert but let's face it, it's Christmas, who's going to quibble with having to watch 'Dinho for a second time


(Credit: Nike Football)

Memories!

What is your favourite football advert of all-time? Let us know in the comments.

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