Episode 2- The Roulette

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog so far and, as promised, here is a trick which is less difficult than the 'elastico' and many others that I plan to demonstrate. Make no mistake, this still takes some learning to be able to execute properly and is not a stroll in the park, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen it to be featured in the blog. Many players have pulled out a roulette in the past, including women's footballer Marta who performed an excellent roulette recently for Brazil, as shown below:

The roulette, originally performed by French legend Zinedine Zidane, is perhaps not the most impressive-looking trick but can still be very useful, especially when a defender has dived in. If a defender has gone to ground when trying to tackle you, a simple change of direction using this trick can allow you to avoid the challenge and continue running with the ball. Here is a step-by-step guide showing how to do the trick:

Step 1:
Begin by placing your strong foot on the ball. As I am left-footed I am doing it with my left but this is the same for right-footed players. Notice my weaker right foot is also ready to spring of the floor but is planted at the moment.

Step 2:
Using the top of your strong foot, gently flick the ball in a horizontal direction. Your weak foot should also leave the floor and your feet need to be just over a shoulder-width apart.

Step 3:
Let your strong foot leave the ball and your weaker foot should now be fully in the air, around the same height as your strong foot. Notice how my right foot is now almost ready to flick the ball.

Step 4:
Your weak foot should now be placed on the ball, this is essentially symmetrical to how the trick began. The strong foot is now placed on the floor having landed from being in the air.

Step 5:
The ball is now gently flicked with your weaker foot in a similar way as step 2, however the ball is flicked backwards. Also notice how my strong foot is now also fully planted on the floor instead of being on my tip-toes.

Step 6:
The trick ends with both feet back on the floor and is over in a matter of seconds. You are now able to continue running with the ball, as long as you have beaten the defender!

Here is a video showing how the roulette should look in full. Please note that the roulette does not necessarily need to be performed at top speed for it to be effective: