Rabona

In association football, the rabona is a method of kicking the football whereby the kicking leg is wrapped around the back of the standing leg—effectively with one's legs crossed.

There are several reasons why a player might opt to strike the ball this way: for example, a left-footed striker advancing towards the goal slightly on the right side rather than having the goal straight in front may feel that his shot power or accuracy with his right foot is inadequate, so will perform a rabona in order to take a better shot. Another scenario could be a left-footed winger sending a cross while playing on the right side of the pitch without having to turn first. Another reason why a player could perform a rabona might be to confuse a defending player, or simply to show off his own ability as it is considered a skillful trick at any level.

The first rabona was performed by Ricardo Infante in a game between Argentine teams Estudiantes de la Plata and Rosario Central in 1948. After it, soccer magazine El Grafico set up a front cover showing Infante (in Spanish "infant") dressed as a pupil with the caption "Infante played hooky" ("rabona" in Spanish means to play hooky or to skip school). Since then the play has been called a rabona. The first filmed rabona was performed by Pelé in the São Paulo state championship in 1957.In the 1970s this move was simply called a "crossed-kick."

Well known players who have used the skill effectively in competition include Diego Maradona, Alberto Aquilani ,Luis Nani, David Dunn, Ricardo Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ángel di María, Ronaldinho, Mario Balotelli, David Villa, Wesley Sneijder, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Luis Suárez, Matías Urbano Davide Moscardelli, Eden Hazard and Matthew Kilgallon

The rabona is also a dance step used in the tango. The dance step takes its name from the football kick.

See also

• Step over
• Pele runaround move
• Cruijff turn
• Trivela