Iniesta’s trademark turn×Proofread What would the beautiful game be without skills and tricks? One of the great delights in watching top-level football is the fact that players will come up with often unexpected moments of brilliance that make us applaud in awe.There are many players who take such a liking to a particular move that they repeat it from time to time. Finally it becomes synonymous with their names. Here are 7 footballers and their trademark skills (in no particular order):
#1 Andres Iniesta - La Croqueta
Playing at a time when Lionel Messi was weaving his magic on the pitch, it was always going to be tough for Andres Iniesta to be the highlight show. It doesn’t seem to matter to the quiet man from Albacete. He is happy doing what he does best – send the ball all around with his impeccable passing and dribbling skills. And when he dribbles, you can almost always see La Croqueta.
La Croqueta is now considered Iniesta’s signature move. Pushing the ball quickly from his strong right foot to the weaker left, he then glides past an opponent with ease. It seems simple, but Iniesta has shown that is quite an unstoppable move.
#2 Ronaldinho - Elastico
There was a time in world football, around ten years ago, when there was Ronaldinho, daylight and then everybody else. He was the undisputed king of the game back then. He got to that position because he won everything there is to win with a style of play that dazzled and instantly converted the onlooker into a fan.Among the repertoire of tools Ronaldinho used and still uses today in the nether world of Mexican football, is the elastico. Also known as the flip-flap, the elastico was first made famous by Rivelino in the 1970s before it came to be associated with a headband and flowing locks. It is a feint that involves moving the ball to one direction with the outside of a foot and then quickly to the opposite direction with the inside. It leaves defenders wrong footed and completely beaten.
#3 Manuel Neuer - The Sweeper Keeper
In the relatively boring world of goalkeepers, Manuel Neuer is a breath of fresh air. Not since Rene Higuita have we seen a more entertaining keeper. While most keepers would try to imitate the likes of Yashin and Banks, the Bayern Munich custodian tries to do a Beckenbauer. Not content with keeping goal, Neuer can now be constantly seen well outside the box, just behind his defensive line. He advances without hesitation and ‘sweeps up’ balls that get past. Many forwards will tell how they poked the ball past the last defender and thought themselves poised to score, only for a massive 6’ 4’’ figure to come out of nowhere and blast the ball out of sight. It’s not something that will delight the gaffer, because there is so much that can go wrong. But for the time being, Manuel ‘Sweeper Keeper’ Neuer doesn’t seem to care.
#4 Francesco Totti - Il cucchiaio
The art of chipping is perfected by the confident few. The ones who have the cheek and the nerve to attempt a lobbed shot over the keeper’s head are a dying breed but there still remain some wonderful proponents of the move. Like Francesco Totti, for instance. ‘Cucchiaio’ is Italian for spoon and it is what the Italians call the chipped finish. In Italy and in certain parts of Rome, to be very specific, the words ‘Totti’ and ‘Cucchiaio’ go hand in hand. In fact, Totti’s 2006 autobiography is titled Tutto Totti: Mo je faccio er cucchiaio (All about Totti: I'm gonna chip him now). There may be lots who chip the ball now and then but ‘Il Capitano’ Totti has taken it to a whole new level. Just watch the compilation and see for yourself.
#5 Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Cuahtemia
Cuauhtemoc Blanco is now at the ripe old footballing age of 42 and is readying to take the plunge into politics. He may be an idol to his Club America fans and a legend in Mexico for a variety of reasons. However, his worldwide fame is arguably for one reason and one reason only – The Cuauhtemiña.
It is basically trapping the ball between the two feet and jumping with it past two opponents. This is quite a straightforward skill but you do need some guts to dare doing it in a pressure situation in a match. Cuauhtemoc Blanco has those guts. And he has done it again and again and again. Even the defenders watch in amusement.
#6 Cristiano Ronaldo - The Ronaldo Chop
Watch a video of Cristiano Ronaldo’s best dribbles and you just cannot fail to notice him performing a Ronaldo Chop – jumping and hitting the ball with the inside of the back foot, effectively knocking it past an opponent. The Real Madrid superstar has done it to some of the very best defenders in the world, leaving them chasing his shadow.
The Ronaldo Chop is now imitated by players everywhere and its origin is also a matter of dispute but Cristiano Ronaldo has done enough to claim it as his signature move. And who could question that? You have a move named after yourself and now there’s also a song; enough said.
#7 Ricardo Quaresma - La Trivela
Ricardo Quaresma’s career may have seen more downs than ups but his penchant for the outrageous ensures that he hogs the limelight from time to time. One way he does that is with his wicked Trivela shot.
‘La Trivela’ is an outside-of-the-foot shot and is something that the mercurial Portuguese has made his own. Obviously, there are plenty of players in world football who can do the same but the regularity of the Trivela in Quaresma’s play makes it seem as if he has a special relationship with it. When he is not scoring goals with it, he also puts in curling outside-of-the-foot crosses.
