Twenty-two years ago, Ronaldinho made his debut on the night of gazpacho with "a goal to remember."
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He finished off a personal move with a shot that sailed into Sevilla's goal like a rocket, but the match ended 1-1.
The match was played at Camp Nou in the early hours of September 4, 2003, with more than 80,000 fans in the stands.
“A goal to remember.” This was the bold headline on the front page of Mundo Deportivo on September 4, 2003 (22 years ago today), just 24 hours after Ronaldinho's first goal in a Barça shirt, which brought the 80,237 fans who watched it live at the Camp Nou to their feet. It was that La Liga match against Sevilla (1-1) that was played in the early hours of the morning after Sevilla refused to move the game to Tuesday the 2nd following a request from Barça due to the departure of their international players. Hence, Barça decided to play at 00:05 on Wednesday. Gazpacho was served on the esplanade of the Estadi on a festive and historic evening.
https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/amargo-final-ronaldinho-barca-89875090
The Brazilian displayed all his talent and scored a spectacular goal that will be remembered throughout the season. It served to counter the Sevilla side's 1-0 deficit, but it didn't secure the victory. This was described in the report published in our pages by Andrés Astruells: "Ronaldinho broke the mold with a brilliant, trademark move that equalized and sparked a collective enthusiasm at a feverish Camp Nou. The Brazilian created the move himself, drifting from the wing to the center and surprising everyone with a thunderous shot that sailed in like a rocket to the delight of the crowd."
His performance wasn't limited to just the goal. The technical analysis of the match stated, "The Brazilian not only scored an epic goal, but also constantly overran one-on-one situations and was a constant threat to the Sevilla defense. Ronaldinho was signed to act as the leader of this new Barça, and the Barça star showed he has the capacity to do so. Yesterday, he carried the team on his shoulders and tried everything to turn the score around. The Barça number 10 not only showed his technique yesterday, but also displayed all his talent and character. He fought with half of Sevilla and dropped back to defend in his own box when he lost the ball or when it was taken away from him due to fouls that Megía Dávila ignored."
That goal against Sevilla was Barça's second in the 2003-04 La Liga season, which began four days earlier with a 1-0 win at San Mamés thanks to a Philip Cocu goal. Ronaldinho's second didn't come until a month and a half later, away to Mallorca.
The truth is that the Brazilian made a great start to the Blaugrana world, quickly winning the affection of a fan base that "even cheers me on when I take corners; I always have to say hello." This was one of his confessions in an interview hours after his home debut. "I feel very loved, as if I've been here for many years. The least I can do is try for goals like this," he added. However, he cautioned that although he enjoyed scoring, "I'm more of a passer than a goalscorer." In any case, in his first season with Barça, he ended up scoring 21 goals, four of them penalties, out of the 95 he scored in total during his brilliant time with the team.
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