Among the many reasons that we watch football are the jaw-droppingly brilliant displays of footwork that we’re sometimes treated to. Even though these moments may seem like showboating to some (we’re talking about Ney-haters), we decided to highlight five of the slickest dribbles and evasions that we’ve seen, illustrated in animated GIFs for your viewing pleasure.
The Nutmeg
Barcelona forward Luis Suárez applies split-second decision-making and nutmegs Paris Saint-Germain defender David Luiz not once, but twice—scoring both times during the first leg of the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The beautiful balance of simplicity and effectiveness that is the Nutmeg is demonstrated in slow-motion by Lionel Messi during the 2016 centennial Copa América—with the cherry on top being the Bolivian goalkeeper and team captain, Carlos Lampe, failing to scoop the ball up as Messi neatly threads it between hands as well as legs.
The Flip Flap
First introduced to the world by Roberto Rivellino during the 1970 FIFA World Cup, and popularised by the likes of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, the Flip Flap has taken on many different names and spawned numerous variations around the world.
Pictured here is Feyenoord midfielder Eljero Elia demonstrating the Elastico Panna—one part Ronaldinho’s Elastico combined with the Dutch Nutmeg—on PSV Eindhoven’s defender Santiago Arias in 2017.
And of course, we simply can’t list evasive football maneuvers without at least one mention of CR7 thrown in—so here is one delicious Elastico Panna served up by the Sultan of the Stepover.
The Stepover
Having mentioned CR7, we’re obviously obliged to bring up the Stepover, aka the Scissors, first popularised by that other Ronaldo and demonstrated here with Honduran forward Alberth Elis bowling defenders over for Houston Dynamo.
Just to underline the idea that the Stepover is a Brazilian thing, here is Brazil’s forward Cristiane dancing her way past Australian defender Laura Alleway and forward Caitlin Foord at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Cruyff Turn
First performed in front of a global audience during the 1974 World Cup match between Sweden and the Netherlands, Johan Cruyff pulled a feint to get past Swedish defender Jan Olsson. The move would eventually bear his name and represent a signature of sorts for Dutch players.
The symbolism for Dutch nationals is reinforced with Lieke Martens pulling the Cruyff Turn on Catherine Bott during the first minute of the group stage match between New Zealand and the Netherlands at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
During the Euro 2016 group stage match against Italy, Irish goalkeeper Darren Randolph came out of hiding to demonstrate the Cruyff Turn—leaving the befuddled Italian forward Simone Zaza to correct his trajectory out of frame.
Interestingly, despite being a goalkeeper, Randolph ended up performing more dribbles during the Euro 2016 than some of the other teams’ midfielders and forwards.
The Rainbow Flick
Neymar Júnior demonstrates why he is among the highest-earning footballers of 2019 with his most iconic (and contentious) evasive maneuver, the Rainbow Flick—chained with a seal dribble and payback served to Strasbourg midfielder Moataz Zemzemi for kicking him in the legs during the 2019 French Cup Round of 32 match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and RC Strasbourg Alsace.
Have you seen a display of evasion worthy of this list? Let us know!
Kevin Eichenberger’s signature evasive maneuver is called the “Look Over There”—and it’s even worked once.