How Dimitar Berbatov perfected first-touch skill without football

Updated: 07 Nov, 2024 • 0 • min read

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How Dimitar Berbatov perfected first-touch skill without football

Photo: AP

Bulgarian legend Dimitar Berbatov was renowned for his exceptional first touch, but he didn't master his skill in the conventional way.

Berbatov scored hundreds of goals throughout his illustrious playing career with teams that included Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

However, anyone who has seen the 43-year-old play will know that one of his greatest attributes was always his ball control.

His ability to bring the ball under control instantly was one of the best in the game.

Berbatov possessed the ability to control the ball with seemingly minimal effort, often leaving defenders baffled.

He could receive the ball with pinpoint accuracy, regardless of the speed or trajectory of the pass.

His touches were often delicate, allowing him to control the ball with minimal force.

Speaking on talkSPORT's The LineUp, Berbatov revealed he didn't have a football to practice with when he was growing up in his native Bulgaria in the 1980s.

We did not [have a football] because we didn't have money for a football. Somewhere we had a basket ball, which was a heavy ball.

There were stories of young players who wanted to master their touch, and nobody told me to do that, I just felt I needed to do it with a basketball.

I started as a small child, throwing it in the air and controlling it with my feet. Control, control. And that's how I mastered my touch.

Berbatov then used another even more unusual item to practice his touch after the basketball.

After the basketball, which one day just disappeared, I used a pig's bladder. We had a tradition back home on a specific holiday, we would slaughter a pig.

It was a big meal with relatives. But when you slaughter the pig, you take out the bladder.

My dad was like, "Come here, you want a ball? I'll give you a ball." So you take the bladder of the pig, blow it up, it becomes like a ball.

But it was slimy so I needed to make it more stable! So then we put clothes around it to make it more stable, and now we have close to a proper ball!

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