Balon d’Or Winner Ronaldinho Once Showed Kobe Bryant Who the “Real GOAT” of Soccer Will be

Kobe Bryant and FC Barcelona players’ association goes a long way. One time, Ronaldinho showed the Mamba who the future GOAT of soccer!

Kobe Bryant’s legacy spans far beyond the sport of basketball. His untimely demise shocked the world and the outpour of love from all corners of the globe showed what he meant to the world.

It is no surprise that athletes from other sports knew Bryant and were even good friends with him. Today, we take a look at a story from his tryst with association football, or soccer as we call it.

Bryant grew up watching soccer in Italy but he had eyes for one team in Catalonia, FC Barcelona. And during the prime of his career, he was good friends with the best player in the world, Ronaldinho.

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Kobe Bryant:

🗣️ “I’ll tell you a story. A long time ago, Barcelona came to Los Angeles.”

“Ronaldinho, who was a good friend, I was talking with him and he told me: ‘Kobe, look I’m going to introduce you to the guy who is going to be the greatest player of all time.” pic.twitter.com/ZNdHsdW18z

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) July 11, 2020

Kobe Bryant and Ronaldinho: The story of a young Lionel Messi

As the story goes, FC Barcelona were on tour in the United States and had to make a stop in Los Angeles. Bryant, being good friends with the Brazillian Balon d’Or winner went to meet him.

As the two conversed, Ronaldinho took his time to introduce Kobe to a player who he said would be the best in the world. And Kobe was pleasantly surprised, as the World Cup winner had already found his heir. And that heir was none other than 17-year-old Lionel Messi.

Kobe Bryant🗣:

“I spoke to Ronaldinho and he said to me: ‘Kobe, look, I will introduce you to the guy who will be the greatest player of all time.’ I said ‘Wait, what? You’re the best.’ But he said ‘No, no. The best will be Lionel Messi’, who was only 17 years old.” pic.twitter.com/b4sRmyFyd6

— Players Sayings (@PlayersSayings) October 19, 2022

That was the time of Messi’s emergence and over the course of the next decade, he would go on to completely change the world of soccer. And Kobe became friends with a young Messi as well!

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The Lakers Legend’s association with FC Barcelona

Bryant’s association with FC Barcelona is nothing new. He has been a lifelong fan of the sport and even supported AC Milan during his early days. And then he started enjoying Barcelona’s fluid style of play more.

Kobe was a huge fan of soccer, showing love for FC Barcelona, PSG and AC Milan

“They taught me at an early age how to play in triangles and how to utilize space, which wound up helping me tremendously in basketball” pic.twitter.com/L3i6ZoBXI8

— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) July 11, 2021

He has often drawn inspiration from the sport and even utilized the schemes and structures in his own game. Barcelona, likewise have always reciprocated the love. To the Catalan club, Bryant was always a good ambassador for the team.

🕊️ Kobe Bryant, you will be forever missed 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/Igcc9cTsrD

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 26, 2021

Bryant even appeared on an ESPN cover wearing the team’s colors! And that issue helped a lot of fans crossover into the two sports.

I was a Barcelona fan before I knew Kobe Bryant, then saw this issue way after, and got introduced to Kobe

I just became a Kobe fan after that ♾️ pic.twitter.com/ZZqHVO8vea

— Russ’ TD ⚡ (@RussFcb) August 30, 2022

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