4 August 2001 - Ronaldinho Makes His French Connection

On 4 August 2001, young Brazilian star Ronaldinho made his first appearance for PSG after surprising the world with his decision to move to the Paris club.

The attacking midfielder began his career with Grêmio in 1998 and joined Brazil's national team one year later. As good as he was for his club (72 goals in 145 appearances), he attracted a great deal of attention for his international play in the 1999 Copa America and Confederations Cup tournaments. Clubs such as Arsenal, Lazio, Barcelona, and Milan tried to sign him, but he shocked them all by signing with PSG in January 2001, agreeing to a five-year contract worth £5 million. Those clubs weren't the only ones surprised; Grêmio's president claimed to have learned of the deal from PSG's website.

Ronaldinho's first appearance was modest; he came on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Auxerre. But in two seasons there, he scored 25 goals and provided 18 assists in 86 appearances and also won the 2001 Intertoto Cup.

After the 2002-03 season, Barcelona finally got their man, signing him for €30 million. Milan eventually got him, too, when he left Barcelona in 2008. In 2011, he returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo, his current club.

28 July 2007 - Barça Breaks Hearts' Record

On 28 July 2007, FC Barcelona played Edinburgh's Heart of Midlothian FC in a friendly. Although Barca got the win, Hearts got an unofficial home attendance record.

The Catalonians' visit was a rare one to Scotland and the demand for tickets to see the glamorous side prompted Hearts to move the location of the match. Their usual home, Tynecastle Stadium, holds fewer than 18,000 people, so the club relocated the friendly to nearby Murrayfield Stadium, owned by the Scottish Rugby Association. Murrayfield's capacity of 67,130 makes it the largest stadium in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK.

On the day, 57,857 people showed up to watch the preseason contest, blowing past the previous Hearts attendance record of 53,396, set in 1932 when Tynecastle still had terraces. Barcelona quickly showed their class, forcing early saves from Hearts keeper Craig Gordon before taking the lead with a 21st-minute penalty kick from captain Ronaldinho. Hearts, however, equalized just three minutes later after a Laryea Kingston free kick resulted in a tap-in from Juho Makela (pictured).

Ronaldinho proved to be too much for the Scots as he restored Barça's lead with a 40th-minute header. He was replaced in the second half by new signing Thierry Henry, whose 51st-minute pass was knocked home by Giovanni Dos Santos to finish the scoring at 3-1.

Technically, Barcelona were the hosts of the match, making the attendance record even more unofficial for Hearts.

17 May 2006 - Clash Of The Titans

On 17 May 2006, Barcelona defeated Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League Final, played at the Stade de France in Paris. It was the second European Cup/Champions League trophy for the Catalonians, who added a third in 2009.

The match was hyped as featuring two of the sport's greatest players at the time - Barcelona's Ronaldinho and Arsenal's Thierry Henry. But the match's first goal was scored by Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who headed in a 35th-minute free-kick to give the Gunners a surprising lead - surprising because the English side were down to ten men after keeper Jens Lehmann had been sent off in the 7th minute for fouling Barça's Samuel Eto'o outside the box.

Despite being a man down, the Gunners held on to their advantage through the remainder of the first half and deep into the second, while still attacking the Barcelona goal. The next goal, however, was Barcelona's, as midfielder Andrés Iniesta played a long pass to Eto'o, who scored a 76th-minute equalizer. Four minutes later, a Barcelona cross found second-half substitute Juliano Belletti, who fired the ball through Almunia's legs for the lead and the win.

Leading up to the match, several rumors circulated about Barcelona's interest in signing Henry. He eventually signed with them in 2007 and went on to win the Champions League with them in 2009.

21 March 1980 - So, "Little Ronaldinho" Would Be "Ronaldinhodinho"

On 21 March 1980, two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Better known as Ronaldinho Gaucho--or more simply, Ronaldinho (for "little Ronaldo")--he would go on to win league titles and the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona as well as a World Cup with Brazil.

Ronaldinho started his professional career with his hometown club, Grêmio, joining his older brother, Roberto, there in 1998. An attacking midfielder, Ronaldinho scored 21 league goals for Grêmio between 1998 and 2001 before moving to Paris-St. Germain in a transfer deal worth €5.1 million. He stayed with PSG for two relatively successful seasons, but his time there was marked by a rift with managerLuis Fernández, who criticized him of focusing more on his social life than his football.

During his time in Paris, Ronaldinho was part of the Brazil squad that won the 2002 World Cup - his first time on football's biggest stage. He provided the match-winner in Brazil's 2-1 win over England in the quarterfinals. He was sent off eight minutes later and missed the semifinal, but returned to start for Brazil in their 2-0 win over Germany in the Final.

In the summer of 2003, he transferred to Barcelona for €32,250,000. He would have his greatest success to date with the Catalan club, winning the 2004-05 and 2005-06 La Liga titles as well as the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. He collected a number of individual accolades during that period, including the 2004 and 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Awards.

He left Barcelona in July 2008 for AC Milan, where he currently plays. Although he wore the number 10 for Barcelona, that number was already taken at Milan, so he now wears the number 80 to represent the year he was born.

4 August 1999 - But Would They Have Beaten France? Probably, Yeah.

On 4 August 1999, host nation Mexico beat Brazil 4-3 in the Confederations Cup Final before a crowd of 110,000 at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. The tournament was the fourth Confederations Cup, which typically includes the winners of the six FIFA confederations (CAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC, and CONCACAF) as well as the World Cup holders and the host country.

For the 1999 tournament, World Cup holders France declined to participate, so World Cup runners-up Brazil filled that slot. Brazil were also CONMEBOL champions, however, so CONMEBOL runners-up Bolivia took that confederation's qualifying spot. Similarly, because CONCACAF champions Mexico qualified as hosts, the United States filled the CONCACAF slot as the second-place team. They were joined by Egypt (CAF champions), Germany (UEFA champions), New Zealand (OFC champions), and Saudi Arabia (AFC champions).

The Final featured a showdown between the tournament's two best players—Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho and Mexican midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Ronaldinho had scored in every match for Brazil, including a 13th-minute gamewinner in their 1-0 win over the United States in the group stage and a hat-trick in their 8-2 demolition of Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals. Similarly, Blanco netted four in Mexico's opening match against Saudi Arabia and scored the 97th-minute golden goal in Mexico's 1-0 win over the United States in the semi-finals.

In the Final, Mexico took a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from midfielder Miguel Zepeda (13') and striker José Manuel Abundis (28'). Brazil pulled one back just before the break when left winger Serginho converted a 43rd-minute penalty kick. Striker Roni then equalized in the 47th minute, but the game did not remain level for long, as Zepeda scored his second in the 51st minute. Blanco added another eleven minutes later, to recapture Mexico's 2-goal lead. It turned out to be the matchwinner, as Brazilian midfielder Zé Roberto completed the scoring with a goal in the 63rd minute.

Blanco and Ronaldinho tied with Saudi Arabia's Marzouq Al-Otaibi for most goals of the tournament at 6 each. And while Blanco helped his team to the title, Ronaldinho earned the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.

8 June 2005 - Crespo Humbles Brazil

On 8 June 2005, Argentina beat Brazil 3-1 in a World Cup qualifying match at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires.

The Albicelestes stunned the defending World Cup champions, taking a quick lead with a 3rd minute goal from striker Hernán Crespo. Crespo fired a low shot from just inside the edge of Brazil's penalty area and the ball went into the net just past the hands of oustretched keeper Dida.

Midfielder Juan Román Riquelme then doubled Argentina's lead in the 18th minute with a powerful left-footed shot from 30 meters out that flew to Dida's right and into the top corner.

Crespo added a third in the 40th minute with a flying header, completing Argentina's domination of the first half and giving them a 3-0 lead at the break.

Brazil fought back in a physical second half and finally netted a goal with a Roberto Carlos free kick in the 71st minute. They had several chances to add to their tally, but a combination of the woodwork and brilliant play from Argentina's keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri turned away shots from Ze Roberto, Roque Junior, Kaká, Adriano, and Ronaldinho.

Despite the loss, Brazil finished second in CONCACAF to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where both Argentina and Brazil were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

20 May 2004 - A Birthday Present Only FIFA Could Give (To Itself)

On 20 May 2004, FIFA organized a friendly re-match of the 1998 World Cup Final between France and Brazil. FIFA was founded on 21 May 1904 and organized the match to honor its centennial.

The friendly, like the original match, was played at Paris' Stade de France, but this time before a crowd of 79,344 - a new attendance record for the French national team. The match featured a virtual galaxy of stars, including Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaká for Brazil and Marcel Desailly, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, and David Trezeguet for Les Bleus.

Unlike the 1998 Final, which was a 3-0 victory for France, the friendly ended as a scoreless draw. That in itself was historic, as never before in the ten previous meetings between the two countries had a match ended without a goal.