The Story of The Midfielder Who HATED Dribbling But Never Lost The Ball

in football a forward's job is to score goals a Defender keeps the opposition attack away and the goalkeeper is the last line of defense preventing the ball from reaching the back of the net midfielders however basically do everything in between they have to attack do a little bit of Defending and of course control the play with their possession of the ball but would you believe me if I told you that there was a midfielder who not only had an incredibly low work rate on the defensive side of the game was incredibly unathletic and didn't like

to score goals but also hated dribbling the ball imagine this a midfielder who had all those attributes but was so good at his job he would rarely ever lose the ball a midfielder who receive the ball take a few dribbles if any then pass it out because even when pressed by multiple opposition somehow this unathletic and quote unquote lazy midfielder was almost impossible to dispossess imagine Chavi in the 1980s who had a little too much of the green to smoke then just give him an insanely wild hairstyle and you have arguably Colombia's greatest player ever

Carlos valderama a master of a forgotten play style that came long before tikit taka ever did Tok which comes from the Spanish word touch and involve tiring and confusing the opposition by keeping the ball moving passing it with your first touch whenever possible because like they say playing football is very simple but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is with Carlos Felder being so commanding in the Midfield with such a special presence that a young David Beckham absolutely admired him with Ronaldinho even calling him one of the two only players he's ever admired

in his entire life however despite his relaxed and carefree appearance Carlos valderama grew up from a very different lifestyle from what you'd normally expect of a childhood Prodigy because Carlos valderama grew up in the small Beachside town of Santa Maria Columbia and as a kid after leaving school he would always go to the beach playing Beach football in the sand for hours and hours even going on to hone his passing skill despite threading the ball through the uneven and less than ideal sand and when you think about Beach football you'd normally associate it with training

and improving your dribbling and stamina however the young Carlos valderama on the other hand not only used it to develop his touch but also the weight and accuracy of his passes he was so talented that even before his teenage years he would be scouted by local Club liso sadon showing incredible talent that far surpassed anyone else in the region however Carlos Fama face a significant challenge during his earlier years an incredibly fiery temper in school he had a reputation for disrupting class and on the pitch whenever he would lose a match he would constantly get

incredibly angry with his youth coaches finding it incredibly hard to keep his emotions and control in fact there was a time he was involved in a late night altercation in which the teenage valderama found found himself in a heated confrontation with a police officer resulting in a violent Clash where he actually gave the police officer a beating this guy definitely had the dog in him however this event resulted in him going to jail for nearly 2 months but perhaps his punishment was the best thing that could ever happen to the young valderama as it was

during this time of incarceration that he went through transformative reflection The Experience served as a catalyst for change compelling the teenager to change and control his attitude Paving the way for a more positive trajectory in his life and instead dedicate and focus everything into football but I know sometimes it's hard to keep your emotions in check like very few things irritate me in this world as much as not being able to watch my favorite content that's why with today's sponsor nordvpn you can change your IP address and connect to thousands of different servers in 60

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after his life-changing experience valderama embarked on a journey fueled by his deep rooted desire to restore Pride to his football loving nation of Colombia a country that had been long absent from the World Cup for almost 30 years because as teenager as he would watch the matches and fold the idea of his fellow countrymen cheering for another team simply due to his country's absence was inconceivable for valderama and that was the moment that he decided that his dream in football was to bring Colombia back to the World Cup because you have to remember back in

the 1980s and 1990s before all the desire of individual Glory or the Deep notion of playing for any single badge or Club The Pinnacle of footballing greatness was representing your country and in just his first major International Tournament valderama would already make a huge step towards a dream as in the 1987 Copa America this underwhelming Columbia side with Carlos valderama at the heart of the Midfield would absolutely Shock the World as they would defeat a Diego maradon LED Argentina 2 to1 to finish the tournament at third place with Carlos Alama himself being named the player

of the tournament over Diego meridana and it was from that moment that the world would begin to know this incredibly unique looking Colombian with a very interesting style of play being so good and so impressive that he would land his first move to Europe playing for no other than French side Mont piler in the leun and despite playing in a new continent with a much higher level of play valderama would establish himself as the club's main creative Force because the performances he gave for his country in the Copa America that landed him the 1987 South

American footballer of the Year award would only further showcase itself because like I said Carlos valderama had a complete Mastery of to or OneTouch passing which generally speaking often shows a dislike for extensive dribbling his Focus was on controlling the game and possession through quick precise passes and give and go Maneuvers certainly a predecessor for tikit taka and in the league where the play style was very different often giving the chance to individual Brilliance and dribbling valderama with his different style and controlling the Midfield allowed him to stand out and dominate the match as he

already had the exceptional ability to orchestrate the play without the need for frequent dribbling in valderama always avoided unnecessary flare and preferred the efficiency of one-touch passes to maintain control of the ball and despite his overall lack of athleticism and defensive work rate Carlos Fama still managed to move the ball swiftly throughout the pitch while also coming to Aid his teammates as the perfect Outlet pass and the guy almost never lost the ball because while he didn't necessarily enjoy excessive dribbling make no mistake the man had Elite ball handling touch and control because even with

multiple Defenders pressing him they would still struggle to get the ball out of his control like it's almost crazy to watch seeing his valderama definitely lacked pace and Agility yet could still use his dribbling to maintain possession if he absolutely had to Plus the man was tough enough to fight the police so even just trying to overpower him was incredibly difficult so imagine yourself trying to dispossess an opposition player thinking it'll be easy just because he lacks Pace agility and you haven't seen him dribble the ball only for you to find it almost impossible to

dispossess him and scoring goals was never valderrama's primary focus instead he took immense pleasure in creating and providing beautiful assists his vision on the pitch allowed him to bought opportunities for his teammates delivering passes that not only set up goals but was where he really showed his artistic flare in the game I mean don't get me wrong if the guy absolutely had to or was in the perfect opportunity and position to do so he'd definitely score goals but the man just always preferred giving a beautiful assist rather than scoring his own goal in fact his

time for Le gun playing for Mont piler was the perfect embodiment of valderrama's style of play as during his time in the club he would only score a total of four four goals and you know it's crazy when a midfielder who's absolutely disinterested in dribbling the ball or going for goal scoring Glory by himself was kept in such high regard by his teammates that former French Defender Lon Blanc would talk about his days with Carlos valderama saying he was so gifted that we could give him the ball when we didn't know what else to do

with it knowing he wouldn't lose it and often he would do things that most of us only dream about doing and it was vder Ra's experience becoming an even better player in Europe that led to him captaining his team and achieving his dream of bringing his country who had failed to qualify for almost 30 years to the World Cup in 1990 leading his Nation as the team's captain and together with another incredibly unique and iconic Colombian player Renee hi at goal Colombia would finally be considered as one of the best squads in South America and

although they only reached the round of 16 which for some countries might even be a disappointment for the Colombian people at least Carlos valderama was an icon a hero and a living legend and for the 1994 World Cup valderama would once again lead his country to qualification giving his team their biggest ever win against Argentina with a historic 5-nil trashing then finally in 1998 he would conclude the most successful era in Colombian football history bringing his country to their third consecutive World Cup appearance in fact in 1998 Carlos valderama was so beloved and popular that

he would feature on the cover of proevolution soccer and while he may not have won the World Cup or Champions League with his biggest piece of silverware only being a CA France during his time in Mont piler the reason why he was such a beloved footballing icon was simply because his only dream was to revive Colombia as a footballing nation From the Ashes Beyond Club success he wanted to resurrect the ambition that Colombia once had in inspiring countless young footballers to play Not only for trophies or success but for the pure love honor and dedication

of the game becoming the first Colombian to ever be inducted in the FIFA 100 winning two South American Player of the Year Awards and a Copa America Golden Ball while also holding a record in the MLS for most assists in a single season with 26 a record that he achieved at 39 years old with his unique play style iconic passion for the game and wild appearance Carlos valderama is a footballing icon that's incredibly difficult to forget