sarah cassidy-wei

Dong Fangzhuo may be young, but his potential is widely recognized and he’s successfully refining his ability to knock ‘em in the goal. Do the same thing yourself. Because aiming for the lower corner is the surest way to score, drape a blanket over the middle of your goal and only try for low shots on either side of it. When you’ve got them down, switch to the top corners.

When Ronaldinho was growing up, he would practice in mud with an extra heavy ball to make training even more of a challenge. Devise your own Brazillian-style resistance training: find some mud or make your own, and use a watermelon for a ball. Train until the mud dries up, then feast on the watermelon.

Not everybody has access to a great pitch, including young Ronaldinho, who used to play in the streets of Porto Alegre as a kid. So create your own: paint a pitch on an abandoned plot of land. Chalk it out on a quiet street. Or better yet, plant a field and watch your very own pitch grow before your eyes. Then just improvise goal posts and you’re set.

He may may be talented, but even Ronaldinho has weaknesses - he thinks he needs to work on left leg strength and accuracy. See if your left leg’s up to speed: play a game of soccer and use only your left leg...for everything. No head, no chest, and especially no right leg.