The Stepover v2 (continued)

The Stepover v2 (continued)

Well, continuing from where i left in the last part in my stepover practice. After making sure you've warmed up and done some stretching, go get a ball (of course) and place it slightly ahead and in between both foot. What i tried is basically having the the ball in a single place ahead of both my feet and then performing an 'immobile' stepover to get used to the movement and distance between foot and ball. The forward and sideward gap between the foot and ball really depends on the person, so try finding a comfortable position. When starting to do the step over on-the-spot, start slowly by moving each foot over and around the ball. At first, the main objective is to avoid any contact between the ball and your foot. This on-the-spot stepover also happens to work your thighs, ankles and knees depending on what kind of stepover you're performing.

Next, as you're getting more comfortable try increasing the speed at which you're stepping your feet around and over the ball, one method i tried is trying to synchronize my upper body movement along with my legs, this, might come in handy later when you want to do a body movement fake or turning at speed. One more thing, try not to be in a very upright and straight posture as the center of gravity might be affected too. Once you feel that it is somewhat starting to become effortless to do the on-the-spot stepover, try not to look at the ball or even better, try the inward / instep step-over. Well, this part of the practice is pretty simple to master and i found that in less than a week, if done everyday, it becomes easier and it was time for the next level, which if i will post in the next post ( and i'll try putting some pics too). So to all Cristiano Ronaldo and Robinho wannabes, stay tuned.

The Maradona 7 - Shoulder

The Maradona 7 - Shoulder

Juggling using your shoulder is the 5th and 6th of the Maradona 7. It's important as it test your ability to coordinate your upper part of the body namely shoulders and head. To improve this, here's some useful hints that you can use:

Step 1

Start by throwing the ball at head height and position your shoulder exactly below and pointing towards the center of the ball. The center it is, the more straight it goes. Then, follow through it with your shoulder.

Step 2

Start familiarising with your dominant shoulder first. Practice while building rhythm until you feel comfortable. Then practice with your weaker shoulder by juggling a couple of times using your shoulder. Always try to beat your previous score in order to improve and staying motivated.

Step 3

When you're somewhat familiar using both of your shoulders. Challenge yourself by combining your shoulder juggling from left to right or vice versa. Combining your shoulder juggling will naturally improve your flexibility and coordination. Though practicing your weaker ones will take massive amount of time and dedication. You can start using your head as well, juggling from right to left and finally using your head to finish it off.

That's it for today, stay tuned for the final part of Maradona 7 - Head.

The Maradona 7 – Thigh

The Maradona 7 – Thigh

This is the simplest among the other Maradona 7. In fact, it’s one of my favorites when I first juggled a ball. Here it is step by step:

Step 1

Place a soccer ball on the surface of your knee. You start with your dominant knee first. Find the flatter surface of your knee. Then juggle the ball with your knee by lifting upwards and follow through it. Juggle it once and catch the ball. Do this a couple of times. The point of this step is to find your knee surface where you’re most comfortable at so that the soccer ball would go straight upwards.

Step 2

From here onwards is all about juggling with your knees without letting the soccer ball fall onto the ground. Start with your dominant knee first and as you feel comfortable, you can practice with your weaker knee.

Step 3

You start juggling with your knees from left to right or vice versa. Try to emulate your previous record which would improve your technique quicker.

That’s it for today. Stay tuned for next week: The Maradona 7 – Shoulder

Ronaldinho's 'Espaldinha'

Ronaldinho's 'Espaldinha'

The guffawing magician. (picture taken from Reuters)

Well, i was watching the Uefa Champions League soccer game between Barcelona and Werder Bremen the other day and noticed another one of Ronaldinho's dazzling soccer tricks. It's what he calls an 'Espaldinha', a move where he flips the ball past the opposing player with his back and then follows this by performing a smooth back heel before sending a perfectly weighted cross-field pass to Giuly. He later went on to score a cheeky free kick which grazed the grass underneath the jumping wall of Werder Bremen. All this, in front of 95,000 plus fans in the Nou Camp. In my opinion, he is currently the best pro footballer playing for a club that can perform freestyle soccer tricks during matches. Pure Magic.

The Maradona 7 - Foot

The Maradona 7 - Foot

Welcome back, today we begin with a simple foot juggling. It's the most basic technique that any soccer or freestyle players would start with. Here are some hints showing you step by step.

Step 1

First off, let the ball bounce and kick it up to knee height and catch it. Kick it up a couple of times to find the right contact surface that you're most comfortable with. It's a good idea to start with your dominant foot first and then work on your weaker one.

Step 2

Once you've found the right spot to kick on. Try juggle with your right and then left or vice versa and then catch the ball. As you get better and more comfortable, try and juggle the ball without letting it fall onto the ground. Try to beat your previous record, that way you'll improve your juggling techniques.

Step 3

At this stage, you're probably can juggle the ball using both of your feet comfortably. Here's how you can improve your touches and coordination even further, whilst you've already know how to juggle at a stationary position, challenge yourself by juggling the ball with both feet while walking. Start at a slow pace, then as you build rhythm, increase your speed gradually. A more advanced practice is to juggle using both of your feet round a set of cones. A training method used by the former Chelsea player Gianfranco Zola .

That's it for today. Stay tuned for next week: The Maradona 7 - Thigh.

The Maradona 7

The Maradona 7

A well-known freestyle soccer trick which popularised by the man himself, Diego Armando Maradona.

The soccer trick enables a player to juggle the ball with right foot, then the left foot, then using your right thigh, then your left thigh, followed by juggling with your right shoulder, then on your left shoulder and finally the head.

For the next few weeks, we're going to look through each soccer trick with some hints and tips to help you improve and master the Maradona 7. The key ingredient is to practice, practice and practice.

For a start, you can do some basic warm-ups like a light jog, stretching your calf muscles, stretching your knees, rotate your foot and stretch your groins. I would highly recommend that you do some basic warm-ups first before you actually kick a ball because your body parts especially the lower areas are more relaxed and therefore makes it easier for you to juggle and improve on your performance. There you have it, be sure to stay tune for next week's first part of the Maradona 7 soccer trick:The Maradona 7 - Foot

The Step-Over v2

The Step-Over v2


One of the first freestyle soccer trick that caught my eye, the step over is definitely one of the more eye catching tricks. Here I’d like to share my own personal experience in learning the trick, with step by step methods and how to practice this trick and eventually master it, so that I could pull it off during matches. Firstly, before starting to practice, I’d make sure that I’d have warmed up and done the necessary stretching. As the step over requires you use the whole leg from the groin and thigh area all the way to the ankle and in some cases the heel.

After watching some videos of players performing this trick, I noticed that there are several ‘types’ of step overs, firstly the famous Robinho step-over, where robinho lowers his body to lower the center of gravity while somewhat closing himself down towards the ball, making it quite hard to tackle. He seems to be bending and using the knee more rather than using more of the thigh and groin to rotate around or over the ball. In my opinion, this would suit players who are smaller in size and length. Anyway, since I’ve got some free time now, I’ve decided to sharpen my step over skills and start all over from scratch.

Basically, the step-over creates time and space for a player who is up against a defending player. While being a very catchy skill, it can sometimes be very risky and unforgiving if its done in the circumstances. Next on, I’ll put up steps and methods that I’d try when practicing this skill. Stay tuned for more in the next post.

Ronaldinho's New Soccer Boots

Ronaldinho's New Soccer Boots


Yep, just launched today, called the Tiempo Ronaldinho. It looks a bit old-fashioned, specifically designed with new features like the rubber studs, new leather and best of all, the soccer boots itself includes Ronaldinho's very own signature. The design is similar to the Tiempo Legend but with a slightly different brand name 10R. I'm quite interested in the boot but I'm still using the Mecurial Vapor III and arguably the best boot yet.

Heikal's recommendation: Although I've not owned this yet, maybe in the future (who knows!), the soccer boot is suitable for those who likes a simple, old-fashioned style. But it can be good for your freestyle soccer as well because of the leather that could improve your touches on the ball.

Faisael's recommendation: Looks a bit old school, like the air legend that i'm using currently, probably has really good leather and innovative rubber studs. Would probably suit those with long and narrow feet. Must have superb 'feel' for the ball.

Soccer Fitness in Freestyle?

Soccer Fitness in Freestyle?

For the past couple of weeks, I have been rather down on my soccer fitness and I’ve noticed that it’s a bit harder for me to pull of some of the freestyle tricks I could perform previously without much fuss when my fitness level was better. This then has raised a rather strange question, is fitness really important to perform freestyle football tricks. Well, I think certain soccer tricks do require a strong and flexible ankle, knee or hip. For example, to pull off the so called ‘Around the World’ soccer trick, I felt that it actually puts some strain on my hip and without a strong flexible hip, mind you, warming up is just as important, it was quite tedious to perform the trick.

After monitoring my partner’s progress in practicing Ronaldinho’s famous flip-flap, it also came to my mind that the soccer trick requires a quick and flexible ankle with some delicate touches involved, does this require us to actually work out and train our ankle so it reaches a level that’s fit enough for this trick? Well, on most videos of famous freestyle players, I had noticed that almost all of them are quite fit, with really strong calves and flexible joints, it’s not just about being thin, but also being strong I guess.

I’d also like to emphasize on the importance of warming up, before starting a freestyle session. Since from my personal experience, by not warming up, it’s much harder to pull of soccer tricks and sometimes it can do more harm to your muscles. I had noticed once where my ligaments (or tendon, I’m not sure) were twitching each time I bent and twisted my knee to kick up and juggle. Me and my colleague believe that the easiest and most ideal way to warm up for freestyle is by doing a 2-3 minute light jog, then some stretching and a little light juggling. Mind you, this is just for a short and light freestyle trick session, not for a full soccer game. As for now, it’s over and out, I’ll try updating again once my soccer fitness level is much better to see if there is a large noticeable difference.

Watch Us Play Soccer

Watch Us Play Soccer

Freestyle Soccer: Is Performing Soccer Tricks Worthwhile in a Football Match?

This question raised curiosity because people are still confused with it. Freestyler's ability to perform various combination of complex sequences of juggling and dribbling (ground) techniques makes them exciting to watch whether on the streets or through media such as internet. Nike launched freestyle campaign in the early 21st century through advertising and promoting competitions throughout the world enabling people to see the likes of Ronaldinho, Edgar Davids, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Francessco Totti, Ronaldo and others. But can freestyle football become practical to the "real" football game ?

Freestyle Soccer Benefits
Juggling and dribbling techniques is the process to improve coordination, balancing and ball control. Mastering a complex set of juggling trick requires time, dedication and patience to become an exciting freestyler. Freestyle football allows individual to express their creativity on inventing new soccer tricks either on juggling or dribbling skills.

There are many dribbling tricks like the step-over that can be learned and practise. Each trick has different levels of difficulty varying from beginners to advance. Choosing and performing the right trick during a football match can be a crucial strategy. Applying these tricks require good timing and execution. Execute it perfectly and you'll gain valuable seconds or create space for your teammates in tight situations. But make a mistake and you'll allow your opposition to crawl back to their positions or you'll lose the ball thus allowing them to hit on a counter attack.

Top professional football players such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo may have many tricks in the bag. But they only master or specialize one trick in a match known as their "trademark" trick like the famous 360-roulette, flip-flap and dummy are there to be seen.

The Downside of Freestyle Soccer
Freestyle footballer has tremendous technical ability especially ball control but may lack in other attributes that are required during a football match.

Attributes are spread into three categories:

1. Physical
Many leagues especially in Europe require football players to meet the in-game physical demand such as stamina, strength, balance, agility, pace, speed, acceleration and jumping

2. Mental
Aggression, anticipation, bravery, creativity, decision making, determination, flair, influence, off the ball, positioning, team work and work rate

3. Technical
Ball control (technique), crossing, dribbling, finishing (shooting), heading, long shots, long throws, marking, passing, taking penalties, set pieces (free kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins) and tackling

Of course when you're involved in a football training or match, some coaches may discourage you from doing tricks on the pitch. Instead they focus on other factors like team spirit, team movement and tactical battle which in my opinion necessary to win a match.

Is All About Playing "Beautiful" Football
But who wouldn't want to see top football players displaying their brilliance on the pitch. The "beautiful game" is more about football teams winning with style rather than scrapping for victories. After all, the modern game is more about entertaining the football fans than just winning at all cost. Sadly, some teams still adopt this unhealthy mindset. Never-the-less, being able to pull-off a trick and out-manouvering your opponent is the best feeling in the world. Finally, let's raised the "beautiful game" to another level.

I would leave this article with a quote to ponder on:

"Ronaldinho is technically very good, but also very strong physically. He was against three players and I could not stop him. After that goal everything ended for us" John Terry

Still Searching for a New 5 Aside Soccer Turf Shoe

At the moment, I find it difficult to choose the best soccer turf shoe in the market, for 5 aside soccer or football de sala (futsal).

Recently I found out that Nike has just launched one of their latest soccer shoes including soccer turf shoe and indoor soccer shoe.

I’ve used the previous version of Nike’s soccer turf shoe, the Nike Secutor II, for both futsal and indoor soccer. The Nike Secutor II was great, comfortable and easy to juggle and dribble with the ball, as expected from Nike. But it’s getting worn out, as I’ve been using it since June 2004 and instead of finding a repair shoe shop, I’d rather search for a new shoe.

Out came the Nike Five-a-Side soccer turf shoe. The latest Air Zoom Control series. As I’ve said, I haven’t tried it yet, but consider buying it in the future. The soccer turf shoe comes in both set of colors; light blue and black.


(Picture taken from: Pro Direct Soccer)

As far as I know, the soccer turf shoe is quite similar to the previous versions but with added features on ball touches and on the sole of the shoe. You can find out more at Nike Five-a-Side.

That’s it for today. Stay tuned, as I will hopefully write a comprehensive review on one of the soccer turf shoe, as I’m still figuring out the right ones to wear. What do you guys think of the shoe? Any suggestions, comments or other decent brands that you can recommend, feel free to do so.

Futsal or Football (a.k.a Soccer) - which is tougher..?

Futsal or Football (a.k.a Soccer) - which is tougher..?

In recent weeks, we have been playing futsal quite regularly and this makes me wonder, from the players point of view is it futsal(5 a side) or soccer (normal football field ,11 a side) that is more challenging for pulling of tricks and moves. Technically, futsal requires a better first touch and much more precise passing play since the pitch is much smaller, the fact that you're always moving and always under pressure adds to the difficulty level, but then, in futsal, the distances are shorter and less long distance (20 -30 metres at a time) running is required. Whereas in soccer, the bigger football field and added space means that there is some space for errors like missed passes or the occasional hard first touch. But then, the playing time in 11 a side soccer is much longer and there is much more long distance running stints than in futsal. So which one gives the tougher challenge for the average freestyle player? Well, from our experience, futsal presents the tougher challenge. Less space, less time and more pressure means every trick or move has to be almost inch perfect, not to mention the normal passing and dribbling. Even my collegue who had mastered the famous Ronaldinho flip-flap trick found it almost impossible to perform the trick in a full blown futsal match, because in futsal, the moment you get the ball, the opposing player is always trying to tackle you and get it back, a single mistake can also cause your team to give away a goal. We do recommend that any soccer player who wants improve his speed, close control, precision - be it passing or shooting, should practice by playing futsal, the challenge give by a small football field, cramped space, quick movement not only tested our techniques but it also tests our fitness level, especially if the game is played non stop for more than an hour.

One of Soccer Tricks Took Me more than 3 weeks to Master

One of Soccer Tricks Took Me more than 3 weeks to Master

Exactly 3 years ago, on a busy day at the college, friends of mine
have been buzzing about this move. The noise generates curiosity that
I've decided to pursue to the group of friends clustered around the
computers. Indeed it turns out to be Ronaldinho doing one of his trademark soccer tricks flip-flap. Whatever people might call it, be it flip-flap or elastico or elastic bend.

The soccer move is simply enjoyable to watch. A simple one-motion move.
Dragging the ball to the side and immediately cut back that left the
defender confused. Sounds pretty simple but it took me more than three
weeks to really master this move. Or it could take months depending on
how you can grasp that move.

You could watch all the videos about freestyle players performing all the soccer tricks in the world and still struggle to perform this flip flap soccer trick. In fact, most of the time I spent on this move is by trial and error. But I came up with a simple plan which hopefully would improve you mastering this technique.

The soccer move requires three levels in order to master it:


Get the "feel" of the ball
Familiarize yourself with the ball by dragging it gently with your outstep and cut in with your instep. Start with a small drag and as you build rhythm, increase the length of the drag.


Learn the "flip-flap"
Start from stationary point. Similar to the previous level. Use the
top of your outside foot and drag the ball sideways and cut it with your same instep foot. The point of this exercise is to make it look as one-motion as possible. The wider you drag the more effective the soccer move will become. Don't worry about the speed yet. Try to stay calm and relax as if there was no pressure and build rhythm when executing the move. The speed will increase naturally.

Building Rhythm
The toughest level that requires patience and dedication; doing it while moving with the ball. For a start, move the ball at walking pace, whenever you're comfortable, do the move. I'd recommend that you'd start on an empty surface where no people are around. As you build confidence, put a cone or any object in front of you and flip-flap it pass the object (cone). Once again, start at a walking pace, then as your confidence increases, do it at a faster pace.

Once you've done, where do we go from here? You could try during matches or kick-about. Be inventive and create something new from practice. Until now, I'm still practicing this soccer move. I'd put a cone or a chair and flip-flap it towards the object which in this case the cone. I tend to vary the position of an object so that I can experiment different ways in different circumstances. One more thing, the soccer trick requires fullest concentration and to achieve this is to
practice. I couldn't emphasize any further. That's it for today; stay tuned for some new soccer tricks. Watch this space.

Pulling off Soccer Moves & Tricks during normal matches?

Pulling off Soccer Moves & Tricks during normal matches?


Watching pro players like Ronaldinho & Cristiano Ronaldo pull off moves and tricks effortlessly during matches makes us wonder, if it's actually all that practical to perform these tricks during normal matches. Sometimes if its a competetive match & your team is 2-0 down, its highly recommended not mess it up with tricks ( unless if you're ronnie !) . Simple moves like the dragback or even the ever effective body dummy can be usually done without much risk, though from our own experiences, it is best to makes sure that you have really mastered the trick or move before implementing it in your game.

For a few weeks, we picked a trick, such as the dragback and kept practising everyday until it could be done effortlessly, then gradually increase the speed and start doing it during training or so with someone pressuring for the ball. At this point the confidence and commitment level is quite high so it's more into the technical bit such as feet placement and angle of attack.


After some time, the trick can be easily done during matches, but not excessively as it might be anticipated by the defending player once its done too often. During play, never hesitate or have second thoughts when you're about to do a trick or move as it can almost always result in failure.

Confidence is the key here, you can even sometimes end up injured by not giving it your all when pulling off a move. Anyway, we'll try putting up some pics at the end of the week to show some tricks.

Freestyle Football is trendy nowadays, but how and where it evolved?

Freestyle Football is trendy nowadays, but how and where it
evolved?

In this day and age, we often see freestylers perform
ridiculous and yet amazing tricks and moves not only on TV
advertisement but on the internet as well. Whenever I play
footy with my fellow friends, they enjoy doing fancy
footwork regularly which sometimes makes me envy and
sometimes amazes me as well. At the time, I wondered how and
where it all began.

I took the initiative to ask a couple of my friends and
browse through forums. Most of them thought freestyle
football came from Brazil because a lot of amazing skillful
kids and players out there who can do bizarre tricks that
are not even in the book. But some say it came from Holland
probably because of Edgar Davids' background and how he used
to play at the backyards with his friends.

Where it began remains unknown and mysterious among us
football fanatics. Prior to the late 90s, players like Pele,
Johan Cruyff, De Stefano and others all juggled a ball for
practice to improve their control techniques (touches,
balance, coordination).

After that, freestyle football really took off in the early
80s when Diego Maradona displayed his mastery in control
(juggle a ball, an orange, a golf ball, a tennis ball etc)
and performed in half-time shows during Argentine Clausura
matches. In fact, one of his famous skills of all time was
the Maradona 7 where a player juggle the ball with the right foot, then the left foot, followed by the right thigh, then
the left thigh, subsequently the right shoulder, then the
left shoulder and finally the head.


While Maradona became successful and popular, others tried
to follow but failed. His brilliance inspired Hao Young Woo,
a South Korean who worked extremely hard to develop his
juggling skills and eventually earned a reputation as a
football entertainer and inspired new generation such as
Abbas Farid as well.

As the years gone by, most freestyle players were Mr. Woo
inspired, preferring to juggle and control the ball using
all parts of the body only. Until the early 21st century,
Touzani and Nelson were among the new generation of
freestylers preferring fancier tricks with different
combination and variations of around-the-worlds and other
lower body tricks. Both Touzani and Nelson and other
freestylers compete in Amsterdam for the MOTG (Masters of
the Game) competition in 2003.

Back in the days of Pele, Maradona and Cruyff, the word
"freestyle" was unknown and no one has ever heard that word
before in the world of soccer at least until the late 90s.
Then, in the late 21st century, Nike came in as they
launched an advertising campaign promoting the players and
the competition. One of campaigns is to allow participants
to submit their own video clip and receive feedback
worldwide at NikeFootball. Thus, opens the door for the
likes of Touzani and Abbas Farid to display their skills
worldwide and become more popular.

In addition, other service companies such as You Tube,
Google Video, Yahoo Video, Metacafe, Grouper, iFilm and
others provide similar websites that allows you to upload
your own videos including your own football clips. So that
other would-be freestylers are able to submit their own
video as well.

Although recent changes made throughout the decade
especially the internet have raise it's popularity, people
are yet to know the origins of freestyle football and will
continue to speculate it.

Ronaldinho's Amazing Trick

Ronaldinho's Amazing Trick

Undoubtedly the current best player on the planet. His soccer skills and tricks are simply breathtaking and worth watching over and over again. Some of his tricks are included in this video including his favourite and trademark move the elastic band known as the flip-flap.

The Step-Over

The Step-Over

One of the most eye catching dummy tricks in modern day football, although players from previous times have put this to practice ( such as Maradona, Pele, Carlos Alberto etc..), in the game today, almost every team has one or more players who can pull off this eye catching trick. This masterful trick is done to create two very important resources in the modern game, time and space. It is possible to sometimes send the defender in the opposite direction by pulling off this trick. Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Robinho and for that matter Ronaldo ( when he was much lighter..) are one of the many who have this skill in their books and are sometimes very difficult to defend against when they pull it off. In our experience it is best to start practicing for this skills by practicing with an immobile ball on the ground moving your foot around or rather moving your foot over the ball ( either instep or outstep) as if you are about to push to one side instead you step over it. Then as you progress, start dribbling slowly and practice it, increasing speed as you get better. Movement of the body can also deceive a defender when performing the step over… and for the record, Robinho was actually booked once for performing too many step overs because the referee deemed it to be un-respectful, how bizarre..

Robinho's Wonderful Solo Goal

Robinho's Wonderful Solo Goal


Date: 15 December 2003

"Match Against Poverty" Friendly : Ronaldo's Friends v.s Zidane's Friends

Result: Ronaldo's Friends 4:3 Zidane's Friends

Venue : St Jakob Park Stadium, Basel, Switzerland

In a friendly football match, team "Ronaldo's Friends" were trailing 1-0 until the 25th minute when Robinho produced one of his trademark moves and scored a wonderful goal. He dribbled past a defender inside the box with a simple step-over and applied a cool finish with his left foot.

What Is Freestyle Soccer?

What Is Freestyle Soccer?

Many people have yet to know the origin of freestyle football. Some said that it was invented in as early as the 70's with the likes of Pele, Maradona and Cruyff. Where it began remains unknown. Some say it's from the South American countries and some could argue it's from Holland. It appears that the nature and the environment of both countries might be suitable for kids to perform complex moves especially on narrow areas. But at the time, the word "freestyle" didn't even exist, in this sport at least. Nike began to promote this concept in the early 21st century by launching campaignes and tournaments. People get to see the likes of Ronaldinho and Edgar Davids performing complicated tricks. Players have the ability to juggle a ball using many parts of the body and at the same time execute creative moves while keeping the ball airborne. So, it improves your ball control techniques but not on match and training. All these tricks need a lot of practice in order to be performed perfectly. Like Pele said, "great footballers are made, not born".