Fake Rabona: Soccer technique, drills and fixes

The fake rabona is a feint. You set up a rabona, the kick where your kicking leg wraps behind your standing leg, then stop before contact and take the ball another way. It works when a defender moves to block the cross or shot they think is coming. GOAL lists Neymar among the players known for the rabona, but we found no reliable coaching source on the fake itself, so this lesson builds it from sourced rabona technique and sourced fake-shot coaching.

Set up

Come at the ball as if you will really cross or shoot with a rabona. Glance at the target first, because a defender reads that glance as a strike coming.

Same approach as the real kick.

Plant the outside of your weaker foot beside the ball, about 7–10 inches (18–25 cm) away, toes pointing at the target. Keep the standing knee slightly bent.

Steady plant, soft knee.

Put your arms out wide and lean back and slightly away from the ball, as you would for a real rabona.

Arms wide, lean back.

Fake

Wrap your kicking foot behind your standing foot and lift it toward your backside by bending the knee, the same backswing as the real kick. Keep your eyes on the ball.

A full wrap, not a half one.

Sell it with your head and shoulders: start turning your far shoulder toward the target. Keep your hips over your standing foot and don't drift toward the way you plan to go.

Shoulders lie, hips stay home.

Pull out

Stop the swing before your foot reaches the ball. Bring the kicking leg back out from behind your standing leg and set it down so you are on two feet again.

Abort, then balance.

Take the ball away from the blocking defender with a short touch. Keep it within about a foot of your feet.

Ball glued to you.

Change pace straight away. The fake only buys a moment, and the burst after it is what beats the defender.

Sell it, then go.

Feel it

Up to the moment you stop, the fake should look and feel exactly like a real rabona: planted weaker foot, slightly bent standing knee, arms wide, leaning back, kicking heel lifted behind you, eyes on the ball. Your head and shoulders tell the lie while your hips stay over your standing foot, so you can get out of the wrap without stumbling. The touch out stays close, and then you speed up.

Fix-its

The defender doesn't react Your wind-up isn't a real rabona yet. Copy the whole set-up: glance at the target, plant beside the ball, lean back, wrap fully with the knee bent, far shoulder turning to the target. Learn the real rabona first so the fake looks the same.
You wobble or stumble in the wrap Check your plant. Too close or too far from the ball throws you off, so adjust it (start around 7–10 inches). Bend the standing knee slightly and keep your arms out.
You give the exit away early Your hips or body drift toward your exit before the wrap. Good defenders watch your centre of mass rather than your head, so keep your hips over the standing foot and let only the head and shoulders sell the kick.
Heavy touch after the pull-out Set the kicking leg down before you touch the ball, then take a short touch that keeps the ball within about a foot.
No burst after the fake Plan the exit before you start, and treat the touch out and the change of pace as part of the move.

Drill

Real rabona first: from a standstill, plant, lean, wrap and kick at a target. Then do it on the move at different speeds and angles. Don't fake a move you can't do for real.
Stationary fake: plant, lean and wrap fully, stop, uncross onto two feet, and take one close touch away. Slow at first and on both sides of the ball.
Dribble and fake: dribble at a cone, fake the rabona, cut away with the ball within a foot of you, then accelerate for a few yards.
Fake then finish: fake the rabona at the edge of the box, take a touch the other way, then shoot or cross for real.
Add a passive defender at the edge of the box, then a live 1v1. Swap roles so everyone also defends against the fake. Warm up first, and stop if anything hurts.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-26.