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How To Do A Basic Body Feint In Soccer

There are lots of moves that every footballer or soccer player should know. The Basic Body Feint is one of them. It is so simple but can be so effective when you are on the dribble.

The Basic Body Feint

Step 1

Dribble the ball directly at your opponent confidently.

Step 2

Suddenly lunge forward with your left leg, reaching out as far as you can. Your cleat should be firmly on the ground. Then because the ball is still rolling forward, you have to…

Step 3

… quickly shift your weight to your left leg. The defender will think you are making a move to your left and adjust their stance.

Step 4

Then make contact with the ball with the outside of your right foot. Meanwhile, your opponent is leaning on their right leg, and now you and the ball are heading in the other direction.

Clinical Body Feint – Messi Dribble vs. Boateng

Back in 2015, there was an iconic example of how beautiful such a simple move can be. And how silly a defender can look when they fall for it. In the Champions League Semi-Final. Messi dribbled past Boateng from Bayern Munich and Boateng looked like he was hit by a sniper. His feet simply stopped working!

Messi performed the body feint so quickly it is hard to tell what he actually does, but if you watch it in slow motion, he feints left, and in a variation of the move he touches it with his left again to go past Boateng. Check out the video below.

Picture of Bryan Coe

Bryan Coe

Bryan is the founder of The Soccer Handbook. He has been playing soccer since he was 8 years old, continues to play, and has also done his share of volunteer coaching over the years. Bryan’s mission is to help coaches coach better and help people enjoy the beautiful game throughout their lives.

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