In
association football, the rabona is the technique of kicking the
football where the kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg.
There are several reasons why a player might opt to strike the ball this way: for example, a right-footed
striker advancing towards the goal slightly on the left side rather than having the goal straight in front may feel that his shot power or accuracy with his left foot is inadequate (more colloquially, the player has "no left"), so will perform a rabona in order to take a better shot. Another scenario could be a right-footed
winger sending a cross while playing on the left side of the pitch without having to turn first. Another reason why a player could perform a rabona might be to confuse a defending player, or simply to show off their own ability, as it is considered a skillful trick at any level.
History
Rabona in Spanish means to play
hooky, to skip school. The name derives from its first documented performance by
Ricardo Infante in a game between
Estudiantes de la Plata and
Rosario Central in 1948.[1][2] The football magazine El Gráfico published a front cover showing Infante dressed as a schoolboy with the caption "El infante que se hizo la rabona" (In English: "The kid who plays hooky").[3] Another supposed origin for the name is that Rabona is derived from the Spanish word rabo for
tail, and that the move resembled the swishing of a cow's tail between or around its legs. In Brazil, the move is also known as the chaleira (
kettle) or letra (
letter).[4]
The first filmed rabona was performed by Brazilian footballer
Pelé in the
São Paulo state championship in 1957.
Giovanni "Cocò" Roccotelli is credited with popularising the rabona in Italy during the 1970s; at the time, this move was simply called a "crossed-kick" (incrociata, in Italian).[4][5][6]
Placekicker
Chris Boswell successfully executed a rabona onside kick for
Rice University in a loss against the
University of Houston on September 21, 2013. Boswell had learned the trick from his father, who grew up playing
association football in Brazil.[35] When playing for the
Pittsburgh Steelers on November 6, 2016, Boswell used the rabona to attempt an onside kick against the Baltimore Ravens, which was recovered by the defense.
The rabona is a dance step used in the
tango. The dance step takes its name from the football kick.[37]
In Argentina[38] and Bolivia the term "rabona" refers to
camp followers, women who followed the army, cooking and serving their husbands, fathers and partners who were soldiers, providing nursing services, carrying their arms and munitions, and gathering
intelligence which could assist the military.[39]
^
abSebastiano Vernazza (2 February 2007).
"Cocò Roccotelli, il mago della rabona" [Cocò Roccotelli, the rabona wizard] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2016.