Ronaldinho Tops Ranking of Football's Biggest Showboaters
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- Ronaldinho is ranked the undisputed number one showboater, described at his peak as 'a grinning chess grandmaster with an arsenal of deadly tricks' who set up Lionel Messi with elasticos at Barcelona.
- Lee Trundle, now 49 and still playing in the Welsh third tier, earned the 'Showboat King' title through weekly appearances on Soccer AM's skills segment, where he toyed with Football League defenders with tricks designed to create chances rather than waste time.
- Neymar is positioned as Ronaldinho's heir for the Brazilian national team, with Yannick Bolasie — himself close to making the list — calling him 'the king' who 'played real street soccer on the elite stages'.
- Mario Balotelli was hauled off by Roberto Mancini in a Manchester City friendly against LA Galaxy for pirouetting and backheeling wide with a clear goal-scoring opportunity, cited in the piece as the cautionary case for showboating without end product.
- Kerlon, 'The Little Seal' famous for flicking the ball onto his forehead and scuttling past defenders, retired a decade ago after serious knee injuries cut short a career that started at Cruzeiro — who sold seal toys in the club shop — and included a move to Inter Milan.
- Ricardo Quaresma — 'master of the trivela, lover of a rabona' — edges into the top 10 as the Portuguese winger who 'bloomed on the opposite Sporting wing to Ronaldo,' a contrast to Cristiano Ronaldo, who says Sir Alex Ferguson told him to cut out the step-overs as a Manchester United youngster.
Why it matters: Showboating remains a fault line in football — tricks thrill fans but can wreck careers. Kerlon's seal dribble made him a target, with serious knee injuries ending his career a decade after Cruzeiro sold seal toys in the club shop. Balotelli learned the cost when Mancini hooked him for pirouetting wide in a friendly. The list preserves a craft managers don't always reward.
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