Playmaker
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In football, a playmaker is an attacking player who controls the flow of the team's offensive play, and is often involved in passing moves which lead to goals. The term overlaps somewhat with attacking midfielder, but playmakers are not constrained to a single position - creativity is the only true requirement, and good passing ability and tactical awareness help. Because many midfielders have these attributes, they tend to be the playmakers of a team.
[edit] Qualities of a good playmaker
Playmakers evidently need good pace, and skill both on and off the ball. However, perhaps the most important quality is the ability to read the game, and get into good positions making for effective receipt and distribution of the ball. Intuition is another key element of a playmakers' game, as they need to know where different players are at different times, without taking too long to dwell on the ball.
[edit] Famous Playmakers
There have been many great playmakers. An example of recent times is Zinedine Zidane, who twice helped France reach the World Cup final (1998 and 2006) and a Euro tournament win in 2000. Another playmaker whose skills were showcased at the 2006 Fifa World Cup is Juan Román Riquelme. He is an example of a dictating playmaker: most attacking moves will go through him, and he often makes the final pass for the assist. He moves quickly and has a keen eye not only for goal, but also those around him. The now famous Argentina goal against Serbia and Montenegro at World Cup 2006, involving 24 passes, was instigated by the movement and precision passing of playmaker Riquelme. Through him, the ball was moved from one side of the field to the other, until it made its way to the feet of Cambiasso, for him to fire the ball home. Riquelme's name did not go in the scorer nor assist column, yet without his important touches, passes and movement, the ball would never have been worked so intricately forwards. One of the best playmakers today is Francesco Totti who helped the Italy national football team win the 2006 World Cup. Totti has an outstanding array of passes and superb control of a football. Most playmakers are characterised by their ability to provide incisive passes which split open defences. Totti has this ability but unlike many playmakers often does not play the most obvious ball but instead is known for his diguised passes, backheels and other trickery.
It is no surprise that the Semi Finalists of the 2006 World Cup all had a recognised playmaker in the team with France having Zinedine Zidane, Germany having Michael Ballack, Portugal having Deco and Italy having Francesco Totti.
Playmakers from other eras include: Carlos Valderrama a former player of the Colombia national football team who famously set up team mate Freddy Rincon with an incisive pass in a 1-1 draw with West Germany national football team in the 1990 World Cup; Mimis Domazos a former Greek international who is considered as Greece's best ever player and was known as 'The General'; Kazimierz Deyna a former Polish international footballer whose passing abilities allowed him to set up chances for his team mates to help the Poland national football team come third in the 1974 Fifa World Cup and Eyal Berkovic a former player of the Israel national football team who was known as Ha Kosem (the Wizard) for his ability to split open defences with his passing skills. Another playmaker who by many Football critics is considered as the greatest passer of the ball England have ever had is Glenn Hoddle who played for Tottenham Hotspurs. Hoddle was a classical example of a dictating playmaker who had the ability to find a pass from nowhere and dictate the pace of the game with his touch and range of passing either short range or long range. Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp who himself was very much influenced by Hoddle is also a great example of a playmaker with great vision, touch and passing ability. Over the years Bergkamp has always managed to find the Perfect pass with an immaculate timing and accuracy to create goals for the likes of Ian Wright and Fredrik Ljungberg.
