What is the 'Dry Folha'?
have you heard of the Dry Leaf? 'The rabona', ‘the chilean‘, 'the Panenka penalty'... currently there are countless shots and dribbles that have turned soccer players into authentic acrobats with the ball. But, definitely, if there is a spectacular technical gesture, this is the Dry leaf (dry leaf in Spanish)
What and whose is the Folha Seca?
The one known as "Dry leaf” is a form of hitting the ball in which the ball takes an upward trajectory to finally fall. A surprising and unexpected movement that was named like this due to the similarity it has with the fall of the leaves of the trees.
Its creator was Waldir Pereira, better known as Didi (also inventor of another well-known movement: the little stop). A Brazilian player who was champion with the Brazilian senior team in 1958 Y 1962 and that he even came to play in Spain, specifically at Real Madrid. But nevertheless, and despite his spectacular quality with the ball at his feet, It did not finish settling and he left the team after only one season in the capital.
The origin of this movement occurred unexpectedly after the injury suffered by Didí in the ankle. An evil that caused him that when he recovered he could not finish off normally Long distance, or at least as before. The Brazilian had to find a solution and chose to hit the ball horizontally, with the area of the last three toes through the middle of the ball, right in the center of the ball, and turning the foot a little upwards as it goes in to finish off. This is how the ball takes an impressive trajectory, rising rapidly and falling sharply zigzagging. Something inexplicable with words, but unusual to behold.
The first time he shot the Folha Seca was in 1956, in a match against América de Río. The result was more than positive and the effectiveness of this shot is due to the fact that when the ball seems to go over the goal, suddenly, go down at high speed. That's why it's so hard to stop and guess, thus complicating the goalkeepers to read its trajectory and that it does not end up crashed into the net.
The hit that went around the world
He hit, due to its origin, spread across the country, reason why it began to be a technical resource habitually used by Brazilian soccer players. But it spread rapidly, even to the present day..
Didi opened up a world of possibilities realizing that hitting the ball squarely up the middle would result in a brutally effective and surprising shot that continues to pay huge dividends for many players to this day, among them CR7. The bug's technique is so good in this kind of execution that this has earned him to be one of the players with the most penalties converted throughout history.
