Passing is an art that need not be limited to using the inside of the foot. The best passers in football history all had a wide range of passing, which included the ability to play a ball with the outside of the boot.
The technique, known as a trivela, is a Portuguese term meaning a technique where a player puts a curl or swerve on a shot or pass with the outside of the foot. It is a thing of real beauty when executed well.
Such passes can completely open up defences and get fans to their feet in excitement. Traditionally, it has been more of an art outside Britain, with players on UK shores preferring to pass with the tried and trusted instep.
Yet for those growing up playing football on the streets of Europe and South America, a trivela is a timely weapon. Why wait until the ball is on your instep to pass, when you can do so quickly with the outside of the boot. Here are the 10 players with the best outside-of-the-boot pass in football history.
10 Paul Pogba
France
Paul Pogba
It seems Paul Pogba’s entire career has been surrounded by chatter around whether or not the Frenchman has truly fulfilled his potential. Such conversations tend to forget Pogba has scored in and won a World Cup final. In that regard, he remains one of the most disrespected players in football history.
Like all players who use the outside of their boot to such good effect, all too often it looks easy to those watching. That, combined with Pogba’s languid style, can on occasions cause people to take Pogba’s brilliance for granted. Despite being physically imposing, he had great technique, enabling him to arrow passes anywhere he chose to play them.
9 Ariel Ortega
Argentina
Ariel Ortega
Like so many Argentinian playmakers making their way in the 1990s, Ariel Ortega was heavily compared to Diego Maradona. Of course, the comparison was totally unfair. But that’s not to say that Ortega was not an absolute joy to watch play football at times. He would corral and point to teammates, dictating play with beautiful passing strokes.
Like all the best players, Ortega was very comfortable with the ball in tight positions. In such situations, he would dribble free, or cut loose with outrageous passes. Although the Argentine played in Europe for clubs that include Sampdoria and Parma, he is best known for playing for South American giants River Plate, with whom he won the Copa Libertadores in 1996.
8 Dimitar Berbatov
Bulgaria
Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United
Dimitar Berbatov made football look very easy. He scored a catalogue of sublime goals and had a wide range of effortless passing. The Bulgarian could use the outside of his boot with the dexterity of man using a tin opener to get inside a can of peas. Often, he would open up his body and then carve open the opposition with a cross-field ball to an on-running colleague.
One great example of this was the goal he scored for Manchester United against Blackburn Rovers. Having started the move deep within his own half, he again received the ball, sweeping a pass from the outside of the boot to the right wing. Typically of Berbatov, seconds later he had arrived in the penalty area to stroke home a classy goal. The Bulgarian was a player capable of anything.
7 Juan Sebastien Veron
Argentina
Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastien Veron was a cultured and intelligent midfielder. He was also well-traveled, plying his trade in Italy and England, for clubs that included Lazio, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Chelsea. Never seen playing without the bandage beneath his right knee, Veron was superstitious.
Having had a genuine knee injury in the nineties, he played with a bandage and played well. From then on he always wore it, believing it brought good luck. Although his time at Old Trafford wasn’t as successful as he would have liked, Veron showed the class of the outside of his right boot on many occasions in the Premier League. Manchester United is the club Veron still regrets leaving. No doubt United fans feel the same way. His brilliant passing brought goals to his team-mates and established great memories of a wonderful player.
6 Dennis Bergkamp
Netherlands
Dennis Bergkamp playing for Arsenal
Dennis Bergkamp was an exquisite footballer who gave one of the greatest individual performances ever in the Premier League. Forgetting passing momentarily, Bergkamp scored an iconic goal with the outside of his right boot. This was in the 1998 World Cup against Argentina.
He took a 60-yard cross-field pass from Frank de Boer in his stride, sidestepped the highly respected defender Roberto Ayala, and then stroked the ball home with the outside of his foot. There was really very little Bergkamp couldn’t do when it came to skill. He used his career with Arsenal and the Netherlands to showcase that. If there was a ball to be played with the flick of the outside of his foot, Bergkamp was more than happy to oblige.
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5 Franz Beckenbauer
Germany
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer read the game superbly, but he was also supremely skilful. This ability extended to being very adept at using the outside of his foot. His technique appeared effortless. He would see a pass and he would play it, with a quick flash of his right foot.
At times, it looked as though he actually preferred using the outside of his foot than his instep. Given that he was so good at it, you can fully understand his thinking. Considered one of the greatest defenders in football history, Beckenbauer was also an elegant ball player. One that Germany have never been able to fully replace.
4 Zinedine Zidane
France
Zinedine Zidane
With his fluid movement and wonderful vision, Zinedine Zidane was very fond of playing passes with the outside of his boot. Whether it be for Juventus, Real Madrid or France, Zidane would nonchalantly flick passes around the pitch at will.
As with most things Zidane did, he made it look all too easy. In reality, football fans know it was anything but. For the Frenchman, shorter passes – where he would use backspin to send the ball around the opposition – were within his repertoire. That should not come as too much of a surprise given Zidane was one of the best passers in football history.
3 Ricardo Quaresma
Portugal
Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo Quaresma is an often underappreciated player. He was, of course, a key part of the Portugal side that won Euro 2016. When you look at the ability he had, he was one of the most skilful players in history. He also had a sublime ability to drop the ball wherever he so wished with the outside of his right peg.
That included putting the ball in the back of the net, as well as swerving the ball around a defender to give a teammate a one on one. A real master of the art of the rabona and trivela, Quaresma's place in the rankings is more than justified.
2 Johan Cruyff
Netherlands
Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff could pass the ball with any part of his foot. As the creative genius who led Ajax to three European Cup wins in a row in the early 1970s, Cruyff
It’s unclear if many players from the last 15 years or so would have made Cruyff’s all-time eleven. In retirement, he sometimes questioned players’ ability in the modern era.
"Players today can only shoot with their laces. I could shoot with the inside, laces, and outside of both feet. In other words, I was six times better than today’s players."
In his day, Cruyff would often use the outside of his boot, of either foot, to deliver telling crosses and passes. This was unusual in the 1970s. It’s just one of the many ways that sets the Dutch master apart from so many of his peers.
1 Luka Modric
Croatia
Luka Modric
Luka Modric has proved time and again what a sensational midfielder he is, for both club and country. He is, without doubt, one of the greatest passers of the twenty-first century. Within that great range of passing is a very strong ability to not only pass with the outside of his boot, but to split defences at the same time.
Often seeing the space and run of a teammate, Modric can direct the ball with accuracy, swerve and pace to put a goal on a plate for Real Madrid or Croatia. The Croatian skipper has scored many a fine goal with the outside of his boot too. A master craftsman, who only needs one touch with the outside of his foot to create a goal, or indeed to score one.