Remembering the video that first reached the one million views mark on YouTube. Starring the magician Ronaldinho!

Ronaldinho was the first footballer to reach the one million views mark on YouTube. He did it thanks to an advert for NIKE.

Ronaldinho captivated the football world at the start of the new century

In 2003, a 23-year-old with a wild mane on his head and a perpetual smile on his face took the football world by storm in a Barcelona FC jersey. His irrepressible optimism and magic with the round nonsense has inspired many athletes around the world.

Barcelona, who were figuratively sitting on their arses at the time, experienced a generational change and the outgoing Figo and Kluivert were replaced by the youthful Ronaldinho. It didn’t take long for the club to start experiencing success again and it was the Brazilian magician who shone the brightest.

Although Ronaldinho experienced his greatest success during football matches, his playful style of football also had a huge impact off the pitch. And of course his main sponsor, NIKE, was aware of this.

His huge influence was used by the main sponsor NIKE

Ronaldinho became the face of many marketing moves at the time. However, one advert in particular, entitled ‘Brazilian Ping-Pong’, stood out above all others. Probably every football fan remembers when the Brazilian legend was presented with a golden case containing a new series of NIKE Tiempo football boots.

But what followed divided fans into two irreconcilable camps. Ronaldinho, in a brand new pair of boots, dribbled to the big whitewash and did something few had ever imagined before.

Ronaldinho hit the crossbar four times in a row and always handled the ball immediately. That would not have been miraculous, but he did it in such a way that the ball never once touched the turf. And that was hardly believable.

Naturally, there was a heated discussion below the video about the authenticity of the footage. Later, of course, it was leaked that the video had been edited. But it was the debate about the authenticity of the video that served its purpose, and NIKE was wringing its hands.

In fact, the video was the first to reach one million views on the YouTube channel, a truly monumental feat at a time when, for example, Facebook was still in its infancy. Today’s generation may find it hard to understand how anyone could have believed such a video back then, but if anyone was going to prove it, it was Ronaldinho.

Source:: Goal, Sport Bible, Wikipedia, Youtube