There are so many subtle, rarely magnified ways in which professional footballers are infinitely better than the rest of us.
There’s the level of physical fitness that comes with being a professional athlete, amounting to Herculean feats of stamina and mental wherewithal that allow for essentially the same level of play in the first minute as in the 90th, and then there’s the freakish ability to complete a task in one touch whereas it’d take the rest of us five.
Hand in hand with that is the professional’s ability to see things before they develop. Players like Lionel Messi and Kevin De Bruyne — although pitted against their fellow elites — can still give the illusion of playing in their own personal backyard testimony.
In terms of showcasing these freakish abilities, one of my favorite examples is Mesut Özil’s “bounce” finish. It’s a technique that none of us have ever even contemplated, but Özil has mastered the outlandish skill by perfecting both its execution (striking down on the ball to immediately bounce it off the turf) and timing (recognizing that the keeper is coming off his line and going to ground).
This is how preposterously good Özil is at playing football.
There was another glorious example of this sort of play over the weekend during Midtjylland’s victory over Odense BK in the Danish Superliga. Trailing 1-0 in the 66th minute, Sory Kaba brought Midtjylland level with this piece of sorcery.
OB keeper Oliver Christensen looked to have mitigated the danger by confronting Kaba while he rushed into the box chasing after a bouncing ball, but the Guinean forward produced a sort of “Özil Bounce” to lift the ball over Christensen before tapping in.
New skill @Sorykaba2? pic.twitter.com/N3tPrj5J4t
— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) October 18, 2020
Midtjylland would win 3-1 and the final goal, a free kick by Pione Sisto, is worth a watch as well.
WOW pic.twitter.com/Dnm7tWx4Qt
— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) October 18, 2020
