Ronaldinho's revelation years after Seaman lob and what he said in dressing room

Ronaldinho's burgeoning collection of incredible goals always deserve a second glance — but his most memorable strike is difficult for some fans to revisit.

Even if it feels like yesterday to most England supporters, 19 years have flown by since the playmaker's 50-yard free-kick beat Three Lions stopper David Seaman from the most unlikely of angles.

On the right touchline, it appeared as if he was going to swing in an inviting cross to the likes of Lucio and Roque Junior. Instead, he went for goal — much to Seaman's surprise.

To this day, the physics of this strike would suggest that the odds of repeating it are in the Leicester to win the Premier League in 2015-16 territory. To score from 50 yards is one thing, to nestle one into the far corner from the opposite side of the pitch is another.

The England number one goalkeeper was caught off his line, seemingly expecting a cross, and was left helpless as he back-pedalled to try and keep the ball out.

He failed, and with it, Brazil completed their comeback to win 2-1. They would go on to win the tournament in Korea/Japan, while England were left to wonder what might have been.

David Seaman copped a lot of flack for his part in Ronaldinho's goal in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final against England and there is an argument to be had that his poor positioning contributed to the goal.

But sometimes in football, no one is to blame.

Euro 2020 grid

It is far too easy for fans, players or even managers to search for a scapegoat when a team concedes a goal. But like a fine piece of art hanging in the Louvre, sometimes you need to take a step back to fully appreciate what is in front of you.

There is another trail of thought that suggests the Brazilian's effort was merely a cross that took a different trajectory.

But to blame Seaman or to label it as a piece of luck only dilutes the work of a genius in Ronaldinho, a man who shows no regret in his attempts to conjure up magic.

He insists he meant it.

Did Ronaldinho mean to beat David Seaman with his incredible free-kick? Have your say in the comments section below.

"I saw he was off his line. About five metres off. I really aimed at the goal," Ronaldinho told FourFourTwo years later when asked if he meant it. "Although not exactly where [the ball] went.

"All I wanted was for Seaman to be desperate and maybe trip on his way back. It was a great goal in my greatest match for Brazil in that World Cup."

And yet, there are so many doubters. It is a curious case that people can cast doubt over Ronaldinho's effort when Patrik Schick, a decent footballer for Czech Republic but nowhere near as talented as the former Barcelona star, can score from the halfway line at Euro 2020.

After all, this is the man who could launch a football 100ft into the air and trap it with a touch as cushioned as a velvet pillow.

A man who certainly didn't invent the 'Elastico' but may have perfected it, leaving his opponents tied up in knots with his silky footwork.

A man who once allegedly continuously juggled a ball from the side of the pitch to the centre, volleyed it against the crossbar and repeated the trick several times over without the ball touching the floor for a Nike advert.

The video may have been faked or edited, but the fact people even believed he could pull it off it says it all.

His national team-mate Rivaldo was certainly a believer when recalling the famous goal in an interview with Betfair and revealed what the forward told him in the dressing room after the game.

"I never thought he could try such a strike, but it worked perfectly," he said.

"After the match, he told me that he knew that Seaman had that tendency to take one or two steps forward at free-kicks and so he tried to surprise him.

"To score a goal from such a tough position, and with your right foot, is amazing because it would be more plausible for a lefty to do it.

"For Ronaldinho, though, there were no impossible tasks and it was a joy to watch him play and to share the pitch with him many times."

Of course, not everyone bought into the idea that he meant it. England boss Sven Goran Ericsson was one of those to witness it first-hand and the Swede dismissed it as a "lucky goal".

Unsurprisingly, Seaman agreed with his former boss and believed it was a "goalkeeping mistake" from him to let in Ronaldinho's free-kick, rather than an intended moment of excellence.

"Did we know how good Ronaldinho was? Not really, no!" he told talkSPORT.

"We'd heard about him, but it's until you see somebody on the pitch that you begin to realise how good they are and he was good.

"Obviously I don't remember all of that - all I remember is his lucky free kick.

"People ask me, 'Did he mean it?', but it doesn't matter. It still went in from about 40 yards out, so it was a goalkeeping mistake.

"When he crossed it, I went one way then I tried to get back the other way and I just got caught too square, and I couldn't move."

The problem with geniuses is that people rarely understand them. To try to think like them usually ends up in confusion or a dismissal of their radical ideas.

The same applies here; it was impossible for England, Ericsson and Seaman to comprehend just how the master burglar Ronaldinho had pulled off this almighty heist.

But he did.