Football players are no strangers to dancing, in fact, they love to break out into their favourite moves as soon as there’s an opportunity to celebrate a goal. Just think of the Brazilian national team – they only need the slightest chance to line up next to each other on the pitch and put on a little dance show in front of their supporters.
For some of them, it goes beyond a simple celebration. Many of our favourite stars enjoy dancing and can’t seem to get enough of it, on or off the pitch. They simply love regaling fans with little bursts of dance at social events and on social media.
And it’s not only active stars who like to shake the occasional leg but some of the veterans of the sport too. Some of them have even gone to the extent of appearing on celebrity dance shows.
Former players Peter Schmeichel, Robbie Savage and John Barnes appeared on the show Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom a few years ago. And the legend himself, Diego Maradona, was a celebrity contestant on Dancing with the Stars in Italy.
It’s safe to say, a football player’s footwork and agility make them potentially great contestants on a show such as Dancing with the Stars. Here’s a look at five players who not only have the ability to captivate audiences with their fancy footwork but actually win the show.
5. Emmanuel Adebayor
A pattern of good form followed by lengthy periods of underperformance was characteristic of Emmanuel Adebayor’s time at Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur. Even though he failed to reach his perceived potential, the Togolese striker sure knows how to have fun. In fact, if he’s guilty of being one of the biggest underachievers of the Premier League, then he is also guilty of being one of it’s most entertaining, albeit controversial figures.
He had the ability to whip up a storm with a smile and a dance. And boy did he dance. He’s busted moves with some of the best in the world – Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Eboue, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Gareth Bale. And he’s danced in the strangest of places too, as evident from his Instagram account. Go to his page to check out video clips of him shaking a leg in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and even inside a jewellery store.
And if you take a look at this video, you might see why he’d have a good chance of winning a show such as Dancing with the Stars.
4. Didier Drogba
Follow Didier Drogba even vaguely on social media and you’ll notice the Ivorian’s thirst for fun. Having him as part of a team means there’s a party on all the time. He’ll dance after scoring, he’ll dance after winning and he’ll even dance with Akon at his own charity event. Never one to hesitate to bust a move, he made the Chelsea dressing room a whole of fun.
There are countless videos of him doing a jig with Claude Makelele, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou, Raul Meireles, David Luiz and pretty much anyone who was part of the squad in his two spells there. He famously took a selfie video of Chelsea’s celebrations after they were crowned Premier League Champions in 2015. Drogba can be an absolute delight to watch. to the objective observer, and he’s just the player who would enjoy winning Dancing with the Stars.
Check out this video he posted of himself grooving to some obscure song by the poolside.
3. Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba’s public relations team must be ecstatic about all the free press he has been getting at every sneeze and in that spirit, he makes the list of football players who have a good chance of making it to the final stages of Dancing with the Stars and winning the contest. It’s not just doing the dab that qualifies him for this list, even though he does it really well.
Paul Pogba is a little like Didier Drogba in that he loves celebrating and dancing not only with his teammates but anyone else around him. His love for dance is so obvious and infectious too for the people around him.
Adidas launched a music video in celebration of him joining Manchester United, where Pogba broke into some pretty sweet moves along with the artist Stormzy whose song it was.
Even though he hasn’t really had the chance to show off his fun side to his new United fans, there’s plenty of footage for them to go back to on his social media. Till then, watch and judge for yourself if the French midfielder is good enough to be on a celebrity dance show.
2. Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho’s name on this list should come as no surprise. The Brazilian is famous for his agile and deft footwork and no one can dribble and do tricks with a football like he can. His skills make him the perfect contestant for Dancing with the Stars and he’s not averse to dancing himself. Throughout his career, he made sure watching him play was fun and why not when he looked like he was enjoying himself too?
Ronaldinho will always be emblematic of Brazil’s samba style of football and considering he knows some actual samba moves, he’d be great to watch on a celebrity dance show. His dancing abilities aren’t just innate, the man has technical knowledge of various dance forms and has even done tutorial videos for samba. In his case, he can not only dance, but teach it too.
1. Kevin Prince Boateng
The unlikeliest name on this list is that of Kevin-Prince Boateng. While many tend to forget he exists because of his brother, Jerome Boateng whose career has clearly eclipsed that of his brothers, AC Milan fans will always remember him for doing the moonwalk after the club won the Serie A in 2011.
Quite surprisingly, he amazed his teammates and the audience by dancing to Billie Jean as a tribute to Michael Jackson.
His rendition of the moonwalk was good, something hardly to be expected from a professional football player and he seemed to enjoy the display as much as those watching him. If this dance is anything to go by, Prince Boateng is quite the dancer and a perfect contestant for Dancing with the Stars.
