While there are innumerable stories of footballers who have made it through grit and hard-work to the very top of the mountain, those who are born talented are simply something else. These players manage to make everything look effortless, easily outclass everyone else on the pitch and drag their teams by the scruff of the neck to get past the finish line even when they aren’t necessarily at their best.
A special breed in the footballing world are those who are masterful with both feet, equally adept at passing, shooting and running with either. They can take effective corners from either side, attempt free-kicks from angles which might be uncomfortable for others and shoot without necessarily having to shift the ball from one foot to the other, making them a lot deadlier in-front of goal.
This also makes it more difficult to pinpoint a particular weakness, with tactics of forcing them to play on a particular side insufficient in stopping their influence.
While these days players are trained to be equally comfortable on either foot, there are only few who can lay claim to be truly ambidextrous on the football pitch. Let’s take a look at the greatest two-footed XI of all time, in a 4-3-3 formation.
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
When he eventually calls it quits, Neuer will probably go down as one of the greatest goalkeepers to have ever played the game. Considering that he had Oliver Kahn’s massive shoes to fill, Neuer has done exceptionally well, and has turned out to be incredibly successful at both club and country level.
While Neuer makes match-winning saves, he’s better known for prowling on the edge of the box and playing the role of a ‘sweeper.’ Neuer’s incredible distribution allows both Bayern and Germany to push higher up the pitch, relying on the shot-stopper’s speed to cover a large area of ground.
He also shows incredible calm when pressed, turning his opponents inside out before spraying the ball out with either foot. His incredible confidence and talent mean that he’s found at the half-way line a lot more often that you’ll probably find him in his own box.
Right-back: Philipp Lahm
Equally comfortable at both right-back, left-back and midfield, Lahm is a manager’s dream; bringing a measure of calm wherever he plays and the epitome of versatility. The iconic captain slots into any role his team requires, with his defensive brilliance and short stature earning him the nickname ‘the magic dwarf.’
Named by Pep Guardiola as the smartest player he’s ever worked with, Lahm’s ambidexterity ensures that he’s equally adept at both attack and defence. After a glittering career which included 8 domestic titles and a World Cup, Lahm announced that he’ll retire from the game upon the expiry of his contract with Bayern in 2018.
Right center-back: Andreas Brehme
Since it is a XI of 2 footed players, filling in at right center-back is German left fullback and World Cup winner, Andreas Brehme. Winner of the Bundesliga with Kaiserslautern and Bayern Munich, and the Serie A with Inter Milan, Brehme took free-kicks and corners with his left-foot and penalties with his right, believing the former to be stronger and the latter to be more accurate.
In the penalty-shootout against Mexico in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, Brehme scored his penalty with his left-foot, so he faced a dilemma 4 years on when he was called to take a penalty in the 85th minute during Germany’s World Cup final against Argentina. He would famously score the penalty with his right-foot as Germany won the tie 1-0.
Left center-back: Paolo Maldini
One of the most famous left-sided players in the history of the game, the Milan legend and 5 times Champions League winner is actually right-footed. Maldini featured on the right until he was 16 when he broke into the Rossoneri team, but was shifted out into the opposite flank due to a dearth of left-footers in the squad.
Twice nominated for the Ballon D’Or – the second nomination coming when he was 35 – he won the league 7 times, including in 1991/1992, when Milan went a whole campaign unbeaten.
Like his father before him, Maldini too became the club captain and he holds the record for most appearances in all competitions for Milan (902) as well as the most appearances in Serie A history (647).
Left-back: Gael Clichy
While Clichy might look a bit out of place in this backline of legends, the Manchester City player is still a supremely talented player. He was a part of the Invincibles squad at Arsenal that went the entire season unbeaten in 2003/04 and he would then go on to win a further 2 league titles with City in 2011/12 and 2013/14.
The Toulouse native was born right-footed, but when he was 5 years old broke his favoured leg and with it his chance at becoming a footballer. However, Clichy’s father responded by insisting that he play with his other foot, telling Clichy that his goals counted only if they came with his left boot; with the training eventually paying off and Clichy becoming equally good with both feet.
Central-midfield: Santi Cazorla
Santi Cazorla has had the unfortunate luck of being a midfielder in Spain during their golden generation, with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Xabi Alonso clearly ahead in the pecking order. But it would be a disservice to forget how supremely talented the playmaker is.
Cazorla transferred to Arsenal from Malaga in the summer of 2012, and immediately became the creative hub of the team, routinely flabbergasting opponents and creating with both feet.
Like Clichy, an injury prompted his development with Cazorla routinely staying behind after training to kick the ball against a wall with his left-foot. As a result, he became one of the most ambidextrous players around, a study of Premier League players showing that he took 51% of his shots with his left-foot and 49% with his right.
While his cabinet may not be loaded with trophies, he can still boast of two European Championships with the Spanish national side, making 77 appearances and scoring 14 goals.
Central-midfield: Glenn Hoddle
Taking into account his slow, lumbering nature on the pitch, Hoddle may have never made it as a top footballer if it weren’t for his natural ambidexterity. Though he favored his left foot, Hoddle practiced so extensively, that he used his right foot for penalties and free-kicks.
His incredible vision saw him win the French title with Monaco in 1988 along with the league’s best foreign player award under the management of a certain Arsene Wenger. Wenger called Hoddle years ahead of his time, while greats like Michel Platini claimed that if Hoddle had been born French, he would have amassed over 150 caps.
He’s held in high-esteem at White Hart Lane as well, winning two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup with the London club and later managing them. He made 53 appearances for England, but he’s probably better known for his managerial stint as national team boss and the subsequent comments regarding disabled people that saw him sacked from the job.
Central-midfield: Wesley Sneijder
While he’s slowly faded away from the mainstream and is plying his trade in Turkey since 2013, it’s sometimes easy to forget what an incredible midfielder Sneijder was at his prime. The gifted midfielder almost single-handedly dragged Netherlands to the World Cup finals in 2010, finishing as join top-scorer with 5 goals in the competition.
He won a total of 5 league titles in 4 different countries, a Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010 and boasts of an incredible CV. The Dutchman’s blend of creativity, technique, vision and intelligence has seen him remain vital with the Netherland’s national team even though he’s well into his 30’s, becoming his country’s second-most capped player of all time.
Left Attacking Midfielder: David Villa
Another supremely gifted and technically brilliant player from Spain’s golden generation, Villa was a deadly finisher at Sporting Gijon, Valencia and Barcelona, scoring over 20 goals in 9 of his seasons as a professional footballer; hitting an impressive 107 goals in just 166 league games for Valencia.
When Villa was just 4, he broke his right femur and the injury was so bad that doctors considered amputating the leg and in the 6 months that followed, Villa got used to relying on his left-foot. The work he put in was at full display in the 2010 World Cup, when Spain faced Chile.
Claudio Bravo raced from his line to tackle Fernando Torres, with the ball falling to Villa 45 yards out and he lofted a perfect left-footed finish into the net.
He finished the tournament as second highest scorer, but since Spain won the tournament, we don’t think he minded too much.
Right Attacking Midfielder: Francesco Totti
When Totti eventually calls it quits in Rome, he will go down as one of the modern legends of the game, having spent his entire career at a single club and rejecting the advances of the likes of Real Madrid, even though he could have had a much more successful club career elsewhere.
Totti made his debut for Roma at the age of just 16 in 1992 and has currently made 770 appearances for the club, scoring 306 goals and generally being an inspiration for aspiring footballers everywhere. In nearly 25 seasons of professional football for the Giallorossi, he only managed to win 5 trophies, finishing runner’s up in competitions an incredible 16 times – 8 being in Serie A – as the 2 Milan clubs and Juventus dominated the domestic scene.
He did however manage to pick up a World Cup with Italy in 2006, and quit the national team after the win.
Totti has made a name for himself due to an exemplary right-foot, but he boasts of an equally gifted left-foot that helped make him the active leading goalscorer in Serie A today.
Striker: Ronaldo Nazario De Lima
Ronaldo was in many ways, the complete striker and would have had many, many more goals if his career hadn’t been stalled with recurring knee injuries. Even after a career marred with injuries, Ronaldo scored 62 goals in just 98 appearances for Brazil and netted over 350 goals at club level for the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Inter Milan.
‘El Fenomeno’ was a natural right-footer, but the Brazilian’s trademark step-overs led him onto his left-foot – usually setting him up for a shot on goal. A deadly finisher with both feet, he made it look easy to slot a goal away approaching from any angle; with his left-foot finish against the Netherlands in the 1998 World Cup semi-finals being a prime example.
Ronaldo’s career is littered with a plethora of both individual and club honours and will be a role-model for aspiring strikers for years to come.
