Paradinha, the ‘Little Stop’ Penalty Kick That’s Not Allowed at the World Cup

Lots of great soccer happens in Brazil, but one thing that stays in Brazil is a tricky penalty kick move called “paradinha” or “little stop” where the kicker feints a shot, gets the goalkeeper committed to one side, and thus has an easy tap-in the other way to score the goal.

While I have to say I am not a fan of the move, it’s still pretty fun to watch a bunch of clips of it being employed.

This technique is controversial, but widely used in the Brazilian leagues, and generally penalized when it has been (rarely) employed outside Brazil. But it had never been officially illegal in international play until a few months ago, when FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, officially outlawed the practice.

Even Brazilian legend Ronaldo, the all-time World Cup high scorer, has used this technique while playing in the domestic league.

mikl-em
Mikl-em

Actor, nerd, poet, producer, writer mikl-em made his name short so you wouldn't have to. In addition to his blog you can find his writing in "Hi Fructose" magazine and witness him almost life-sized in various plays at The Dark Room Theater in SF's Mission district.

He tends to write about theater, humor, San Francisco culture and history, and stuff that's just plain weird. He thanks Scott for sharing the keys to the Laughing Squid virtual HQ and promises to uphold whatever it is that the mirthful cephalopod would prefer to be uplifted.

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