The seal dribble is a form of

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. It is performed by flicking the ball up from the ground onto the head, whereby the player then proceeds to run past opponents, whilst bouncing the ball on top of his forehead, imitating a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

. The seal dribble makes it very hard for the defending team to challenge legally.

Kerlon Kerlon Moura Souza (born 27 January 1988) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. After retiring, he worked as a coach at Olé Soccer in the United States. Club career Early years in Brazil Kerlon sc ...

, a retired footballer who last played for Slovak side

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, an ...

in 2017, is historically the most prolific user of this move. The Italian forward Marco Nappi was also known to use the seal dribble. His most famous use of this move came in the first leg of the semi-final of the

1989–90 UEFA Cup The 1989–90 UEFA Cup was won by Juventus on aggregate over Fiorentina. This was the first final between two Italian sides in the UEFA competitions history and the third between two clubs of the same country. It was the last season for which ...

, against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

; during the match, Nappi picked up the ball in his area and ran 40 metres with the ball bouncing along his forehead along the right flank.

Legality

Performing a seal dribble in a game is legally dubious under the 2019/20 version of the Laws Of The Game. Law 12 which covers fouls, defines "playing in a dangerous manner" as any action that threatens injury including to the player themselves, by preventing an opponent from playing the ball due to fear of injury. As a seal dribble keeps the ball up in the air and close to the player dribbling, only challenges involving an opponent trying to head the ball away and a goalkeeper grabbing the ball or punching it can possibly be legal. Both of these have a clear risk of injury to the players involved. Kerlon's career was marked by incidents where opposition players elbowed, tripped, kicked or headbutted him while he was performing a seal dribble, frustrated by an inability to challenge the seal dribble. A famous case was when Atletico Mineiro's Coelho fouled

after he performed the seal dribble with a hard elbow attack to the face. As a result, Coelho was initially banned for 120 days although this was reduced to five games after an appeal. A referee can decide to award a free kick to the opposition should a player attempt a seal dribble in a manner that risks injury, and can caution the seal dribbler for unsporting behaviour for showing a lack of respect for the game.

References

{{footy-stub Association football skills Association football terminology