Footballers with a Sweet Left Foot



Lionel Messi Left Foot

The beautiful left peg of Lionel Messi.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.


"Sweet Left Foot" has become one of the classic football phrases and manages to perfectly encapsulate the view that there's no finer sight in football than a gifted left-footed player kicking a ball - for some reason they just seem to hit it more beautifully than right-footed footballers.

To celebrate this strange phenomena, here's a list of our favourite footballers who've been blessed with a sweet left foot...

Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.1 Diego Maradona.

Where else to start than the left peg of this footballing superstar, Diego Maradona. Not just one of the greatest Argentine number 10s, but arguably the finest player that the game has ever seen. That magical left foot provided us with some of the greatest World Cup moments, set alight the Italian and Argentine football leagues, and generally brought joy to us on the pitch for over 20 years. Here's 3 minutes and 42 seconds of him making keepers look a bit daft...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.2 Gheorghe Hagi.

He wasn't nicknamed the "Maradona of the Carpathians" for nothing. The term "sweet left foot" was almost made for him. Here's an absolute belter from his time at Real Madrid...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.3 Rivelino.

Not only could the great Brazilian hammer it, he also used that left foot for some silky skills, here he is doing elasticos...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.4 Hristo Stoichkov.

Bulgaria's finest, Stoichkov had a fantastic career, at club level primarily with CSKA Sofia and Barcelona, and as part of that fine Bulgarian side that reached the semi-finals of USA '94, where he won the Golden Boot award for finishing joint top-scorer along with Oleg Salenko. Here he is, finding the top corner for Barcelona vs São Paulo...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.5 Liam Brady.

He had one of our favourite footballer's nicknames of the 70's, and one of our favourite left boots. The elegant Irish midfielder was one of the few British or Irish players who were successful in Italy. Now look at this. Just look at this!...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.6 Wolfgang Overath.

Sweet left foot? I should coco. The German was a tremendous passer and helped his country to 1st, 3rd and 2nd place at the 1974, 1970 and 1966 World Cup tournaments. Here he at the 1974 World Cup, with a beauty vs Australia...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.7 Eder.

Was there a better left foot at the 1982 World Cup than the Brazilian winger's? Here's one of the moments of the tournament, as Eder hits the bar with one of the most beautiful free kicks ever and one of the greatest goals not scored (even though Zico tapped in the rebound!). That swerve...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.8 Chris Waddle.

Not just a brilliant dribbler. Here he is with that fantastic goal in the Steel City FA Cup semi-final of 1993...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.9 Dragan Džajic.

The Red Star Belgrade legend from the 1960s and 70s is one of Europe's most underrated players. If you get a spare seven minutes then check him out in this compilation...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.10 Gérson.

The deep-lying playmaker was the brains in that legendary Brazilian side of 1970, his passing simply sublime. Growing up in the late 70's there was a football annual which included a fantastic little snippet about Gérson, which we've never forgotten.... "All left foot, but what a left foot. Gérson could land a ball on a sixpence from 50 yards." - memorable stuff for a memorable player.


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.11 Piet Keizer.

A one club man for Ajax, Keizer was the unsung hero of their great teams of the 1960's and 70's. Here's a compilation of some of those silky skills with that lovely left foot of his...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.12 Kevin Sheedy.  

The sweet left foot of that great Everton midfield of the 80s. Here's his famous "So good I did it twice" free-kick vs Ipswich Town in 1985...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.13 Raúl.

The Real Madrid star had a lovely touch and was a fantastic finisher. Here's an outrageous chip with the outside of his left foot...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.14 Rivaldo.

The great Brazilian was capable of thundering shots in from anywhere. Here he is, curling one in to the top corner...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.15 Davor Šuker.

That incredible chip for Croatia at Euro'96 says it all...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.16 Lionel Messi.

What else is there to say? Messi is simply a sight to behold. There are too many video clips to choose from, but we love this pass...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.17 Juan Alberto Schiaffino.

Gifted playmaker who won the 1950 World Cup with Uruguay and starred for Peñarol and Milan in the 1940's and 1950's. Unlike many great left footers he was equally adept with his right foot too. Here's some grainy old clips of him scoring for Milan...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.18 Roberto Carlos.

It wasn't always subtle, but it was often used to great effect, such as the famous banana free-kick in 1997...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.19 Hansi Müller.

Elegant midfield playmaker for VfB Stuttgart and Inter. Here he is in 1980, using that sweet left foot to hammer a shot into the top corner for West Germany against Austria...


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.20 Dejan Savicevic.

What a talent. Savicevic scored one of our favourite European Cup goals, side-footing a glorious lob over Zubizarreta in 1994 as Milan destroyed Barcelona...  


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.21 Juan Arango

Venezuala's greatest ever player. Whilst you might expect Arango to have a host of Venezuelan football league winners medals, he actually only had a few seasons as a youngster in their domestic league before moving off to Mexico and then to Europe with great spells at Mallorca in LaLiga and then in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach.


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.22 Georgi Kinkladze

Another silky Eastern European footballer whose wand of a left foot saw him labelled as one of the alternative Maradonas, Kinkladze's tag being "The Maradona of the Caucasus" - a reference to the region of Georgia from where he was born. Kinkladze is best known for his three years in the mid-90s entertaining the public at Manchester City.


Classic Sweet Left Foot. No.23 Arjen Robben

A terrific player, best known for his ability to cut inside onto his left foot. One of the few footballers who have won league titles in different countries, having won championships in the Netherlands, England, Spain and Germany.