The step over: useful trick?

The step over is a trick highly used in football and can be seen often in premiership matches. A number of players seem to have mastered this skill such as Ronaldo of portugal, giggs, Robinho, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo of Brazil. It is not suprising that many Brazilian football players have mastered this skill. In the premiership the player to most frequently use this skill is probably Ronaldo. Although players must realise he is going to use this trick they still seem to fool for it. This is a great advantage of this skill as if it is mastered it will be almost impossible for the defender to know whether you will change direction from using the step over.

To do this trick you simply need to bring your foot over the ball without actually touching it. You could do this with either leg. Once done this may confuse your opponent and they may shift their balance in one direction. You could use this to your advantage and go round a player the other side.

If you practice this often you could get quicker at it, and this could make you more effective. It also seems to be the case that the more you exaggerate the step over the more you can confuse a defender and I would try not to be to predictable with the step over.

You can learn how to master the step over on the BBC website