Dribbling is the most essential skill in football. It’s the first skill beginners to the sport must learn, and it’s also one of the skills that separate the best from the rest.
Throughout history, there have been several dribbling magicians who have had that incredible ability to put the ball on a string and seemingly do whatever they want with the ball on their feet.
SBOTOP remembers five such magicians who displayed remarkable skills and deserve to be considered as the greatest players ever to dribble a football.
- Johan Cruyff
You know you’re a good dribbler when you invent an entirely new move, which is then named after you. Johan Cruyff is one such individual as his icon ‘Cruyff turn’ is still being seen in football 2021 highlights.
Of course, Cruyff could do much more than just a single move. The Dutch master is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in history, in large part because he can do Cruyff turns, pirouettes, slaloming runs, and virtually everything else with the ball at his feet, all while looking supremely classy and elegant.
- Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho’s reign at the top of the football world did not last as long as many would have liked, but at his peak with Barcelona, he was among the most skilled and entertaining players ever to step onto a pitch.
The Brazilian had the potential for brilliance every time the ball was at his feet. He had all the tricks and feints to get past defenders and either score goals or set up others.
But what made the buck-toothed magician so special as a dribbler was how unpredictable he was. No one – not the defenders, not his team-mates, maybe not even he himself – ever quite knew what he would do when he had the ball.
Sometimes his moves won’t come off, but when they did work, they were usually wonderful moments that only he could produce.
- Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is a football machine. As an attacking player, he has virtually no weaknesses, with his shooting, passing, and dribbling all reaching the vaunted all-time great category.
Messi’s dribbling was the first skill that caught the eye when he first broke through as a teenager at Barcelona, and he continued to hone that skill throughout his remarkable career.
There is admittedly nothing particularly flashy about Messi’s dribbling. He doesn’t lack rival Cristiano Ronaldo in many categories, but flare in dribbling would likely be one of them.
However, what Messi lacks in flash, he more than makes up for with ruthless efficiency. He just gets by defenders, time after time after time, and that usually turns into goals or assists. That’s why if he does stay at Barcelona, the football 2021 odds should have them favoured to win La Liga.
Given the longevity and the efficiency of Messi’s production, absolutely no one can deny that he deserves his place among the dribbling greats.
- Garrincha
The World Cup-winning Brazil sides of 1958 and 1962 were so incredible that Pele – one of the greatest players of all time – wasn’t even the best dribbler on his own team.
That title must go to Garrincha. The diminutive winger was born with deformed legs that made it seem doubtful he’d be unable to walk. But somehow, he not only walked, but he also grew up to be one of the greatest dribblers of all time.
Garrincha tortured opposing defenders with his combination of pace and amazing control of the ball. And similar to Ronaldinho, he had that rare maverick quality in him that led to a troubled life off the pitch – but made him a genius dribbler on it.
- Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona’s case as the greatest player of all time has grown weaker as Messi’s magnificent career has unfolded. But there is no doubt that there an added spark in Maradona’s dribbles that aren’t quite there with Messi.
It might be nostalgia. It might be the fact that Maradona has done it in the biggest stage with the ‘Goal of the Century’ against England in the 1986 World Cup. Or it might be the amazing sight of a short, stocky fellow somehow gliding by defenders with ease.
Whatever it is, there’s just magic when the ball was in Maradona’s feet and he dribbled his way through a maze of defenders, a magic that is unique to him – the greatest dribbler of all time.
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