Ronaldinho has revealed one of the secrets behind his skills. Soccer-Weblog's theory that it's all done with mirrors a la David Blaine was wrong, because apparently the Brazilian wizard learned his close control in childhood through playing with his dog, Bombom.

He told Brazilian newspaper Zero Hora "Bombom loved to play with me. When all my friends got bored, I would go play with him. We would stay battling for the ball all day. I had to work hard on my moves to keep him from getting the ball. We were inseparable, he was my great companion.''

If anyone's ever tried keeping a football away from a dog, they'll know exactly what Ron's talking about. So, kids, if you want emulate the skills shown in the video below, go out and get yourself a determined dog.