Rabona

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In football (soccer), the rabona is a move in which a shot, pass or cross is performed by moving one leg behind the other (the one taking the player's weight) and kicking the ball forwards with the first – 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. A good example of this is Diego Maradona, who often made use of this move for both short^[1] and long passes^[2].

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 skilful trick at any level. A player often seen doing this is Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United and Portugal. However, many players have performed rabonas on at least one occasion – for example, Roberto Baggio, Quaresma, Claudio Borghi, Joe Cole, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Rivaldo, Joan Capdevila^[3], Alberto Aquilani^[4], Francesco Totti, Didier Drogba, and Ronaldinho.

Although this move become popular in recent times, it was first introduced by the Italian player Giovanni Roccotelli in the 1970s, for Ascoli Calcio. At that time this move was simply called a "crossed-kick"^[5][6].

The rabona is also a dance step used in the tango. The dance step takes its name from the football kick^[7].

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