Master foot over the ball: a specialty that’s back in fashion. Sublimated, in the past, by illustrious interpreters such as Baggio and Rivelino
The ancient gesture of touching the ball with the sole of the foot is back in fashion, in order to stop it, adjust it and/or direct it in the desired direction: it might seem like a quirk, in reality it is a high quality shot that contemplates good technique and reveals an absolute intimacy between foot and ball. All in all, it’s a primitive movement, like a soccer player who moves in tight spaces – he can’t risk airy dribbling – and must always have control of the ball. The gesture itself – the master foot above the ball, even if for the brief instant of the caress – is there to signify an exhibited domination.