Football Skills

5 perfect players to learn basics from

Pulse Sports writes on the basic football skills and the players you have to study to learn them from.

 

For our readers who are looking to become professional footballers, Pulse Sports brings you five basic football skills and the players you have to learn.

These players are arguably the very best in these skills. Some may have other opinion, but these stars undisputedly are good it.

1. Dribbling

This is probably the most fundamental skill in football. Dribbling involves keeping the ball and moving it past opposition players.

While dribbling, a player is required to still have the ball at his feet and make sure that the opposition do not get it from him or her.

Player to watch: Neymar

Neymar is one of football's best dribblers (Getty Images )

Neymar is arguably the best dribbler in world football right now. The Brazilian one-on-one with a defender is a clear result. He will beat you.

Neymar can do dribble in several ways. Either through direct runs or some mesmerizing skills that leaves defenders numb on their feet.

Looking to learn how to dribble, watch Neymar.

2. Shooting

Shooting is a major part of the game. It involves striking a ball with strength of your feet to a direction you want.

To shoot the ball, players plant their foot under the ball to pass to a teammate, score a goal or make a clearance.

Player to watch: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo shoots the ball during El Clasico on Saturday, April 2 (Reuters / Juan Medina Livepic)

Real Madrid and Portugal star Ronaldo is the best shooter of the ball in football right now. Right from his days at Manchester United, Ronaldo has earned a reputation for himself for some outrageous shooting of the ball.

He has several techniques to it. With his free-kick, he strikers the ball in a way that it zig-zags past the goalkeeper is ways he can’t explain.

Ronaldo is a perfect study on how to strike the ball.

3. Defending

Defending is an essential skill in football especially if you want to win games. It helps in stopping oppositions from getting close to your goal.

Every player on the football pitch has to learn how to defender, not just the defender. A good team has its first line of defence from the striker and forward lines.

Player to watch: Diego Godín

Diego Godin is the perfect case study for young defenders (Omnisports)

The player to watch in his special skill in football is Uruguay and Atletico Madrid star, Diego Godín.

Godin is the perfect person to learn the techniques of defending from. He’s the case-study on how to intercept passes, sliding tackles, winning headers and preventing strikers and opposition teams from school.

Godin is a perfect study for defending is because he is good at everything that makes a decent defender. His intelligence and athleticism have made him standout as one of the best defenders in world football.

4. Passing

This involves playing the ball perfectly to a teammate in the process of undertaking the goal of the team which is the plant the ball in the opposition’s net.

Passing is important in football because it keeps the ball with a team. It is important in football because a good player is required to know how to pass the ball no matter the position they play.

Player to watch: Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil's assist stats shows how much of a good passer he is (Reuters)

Arsenal no. 11 is one of the best passers of the ball in world football. His precision and execution is what should be studied by every student of the game.

5. Goalkeeping

This is one of the basic skills of football. The goalkeeper is the last line of defence of every team. His job is simply to stop the opposition from scoring when the ball has gone past all his teammates.

Player to watch: Manuel Neuer

Manuel Neuer has been the best goalkeeper in the past five years (Omnisports)

Looking for a goalkeeper to study to learn the basic techniques of goalkeeping, search no more, Neuer is your man,

He is has been the best goalkeeper for the past five years. His diving saves, set pieces covering, outside the 18-yard-box clearances and his ball distribution are some of the things you can learn from him.