Cover Monday

We continue with The Fourth Official’s cover series. To remind of the concept, TFO offers you a great song cover equated with a great soccer move cover.

“We Can Work It Out”, from The Beatles to Stevie Wonder

            What do you do when you need to make an inch perfect cross when the ball is rolling on your weaker foot? Such a profound dilemma could only have a spectacular solution, namely the “rabona” (or the “scarf move”): “a method of kicking the football whereby the kicking leg is wrapped around the back of the standing leg—effectively with one's legs crossed.”* With this move, players like Maradona could in 1980 cry out “We can work it out” to the ball whilst perfectly addressing it to his teammate with his better left foot. If the rabona has now become less of a technical feat to accomplish, its purposeful usage is on the hand rarer. The point is now to show that you can indeed work it out for yourself, but also for the team, the way it should. So watch Aquilani appropriate himself the rabona with his tall and lanky body as he sings “try to see it my way”. A different style, like Stevie’s, the same technical ease, and a goal in the end.

Maradona's 1980 rabona for Argentina against Switzerland

Aquilani's 2008 rabona for Roma against Milan

 “All Along The Watchtower”, from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix

            The play is here simple. The team star receives the ball in center circle, run diagonally towards the goal past defenders, beats the keeper with the simplest of shots, and his team wins. Remarkable by its simplicity, Thierry Henry stunned all of the Bernabeu by creating himself a way out of there. It was only a year later that Kaka proved himself by undertaking the feat. If Dylan is said to be stunned by Hendrix’ cover, Henry must be abashed by Kaka’s. Everything fits: using the body to defend possession the acceleration, successfully overtaking the first defender, the weaker foot finish (if only they had tried a rabona…), the Champion’s League atmosphere and the three points. Kaka’s run did occur in stoppage time, just to add that extravaganza equal to that of Jimi’s solo. The move of a generation, interpreted twice, so that we are sure to get the point.

Henry's 2006 qualifying goal for Arsenal against Real Madrid

Kaka's 2007 qualifying goal for Milan against Celtic

TFO

*Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabona , accessed 14/11/2011, 8:33PM