The ART of the Dribble - Luis Jeremiah Figo

If you were asked who the greatest Portuguese footballer was, many would say Eusebio...hero of 1996 and club legend. Then yes, people would point to the goals that Cristiano has scored, the records he has broken as PROOF he is the greatest. But I'm a man of football. Could give two cracks about stats and records. I want to talk about the skill of dribbling.

I don't know about y'all, but what EXCITES me most about football is dribbling. People call it skills or....ahem...."party tricks". For me, dribbling is what makes football exciting. You can pass all you want, but when there is no space, you have to try and BEAT your man. There is something thrilling about a man facing up to another man and taking him on in a duel. It's why we loved Maradona's goal in 1986 and it is why I see Figo as Portugal's most GIFTED footballer.

Figo's highest point was at Euros in 2000 as well as in Real. What makes it so amusing, is Barcelona fans prayed he would fail but he was deadlier at Real than Barcelona. And in Barcelona, he was VERY good. But what made Figo so incredible was how he mastered the true ART of the dribble. Ridiculous close control, and an understanding of how his opposing defender would move so as to bamboozle him and outwit him.

You have players like Messi and Robben who are pretty good dribblers, but rely on their left foot. Anybody who has played football and defended would know the HARDEST thing to do is defend a player who is naturally two-footed. It means they can go in an direction and have a perfect and well-rounded balance when they come at you. That is what Figo had, and seeing him dribble was a thing of beauty.

The reason why Figo is not remembered fondly is because of people's love of records. It's why they won't talk of Okocha or Bergkamp in the same vein as Messi and Cristiano because of...records. But those that are slaves to numbers, are not lovers of football and probably don't enjoy actually playing the sport. Those that do, and saw what Figo did would have to admit this was a very special footballer and in my eyes, one of the greatest dribblers that I've ever seen.

I am talking about a man's skill. Figo was never one to burst his balls to get that goal the team needs or give a million percent like Maradona did. But just talking about the skill of a certain footballer and how good he was at an aspect of this sport, you CANNOT deny the skill this guy had.

Luis

Jeremiah

Figo

Have Hope salutes you.

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HH

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