Just having a football was already a reason to be happy. That's where my joy came from.
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira of Porto Alegre is the closest football has come to bottling happiness. Other greats mastered the game; Ronaldinho appeared to be playing it, in the schoolyard sense, at the highest level it has ever been played.
The toothy grin wasn't a brand exercise. Watch any match from the Barcelona years: he celebrates opponents' skills, laughs at his own audacity, and treats the crossbar like a percussion instrument. Joga bonito needed a face, and it chose the most cheerful one available.
The moments
2002
The free kick over Seaman
In the World Cup quarterfinal against England on 21 June, he floated a forty-yard free kick over David Seaman and in. Brazil went on to win the title — his first and the country's fifth.
2005
The night the Bernabéu stood up
Two solo goals in a 3-0 Clásico win on 19 November, and Real Madrid's fans rose to applaud a Barcelona player — the rarest sound in Spanish football. The Ballon d'Or arrived nine days later.
2006
Champion of Europe
The peak of the Barcelona years: a Champions League title to go with consecutive Ballon d'Or podiums, and a claim — briefly undisputed — to being the best player alive.
The decline came early, as it does for players who give the game everything at once. But no one since has made the stadium feel more like the street — and the street is where football keeps its heart.