In youth leagues, there's that unstoppable player who could kick the ball past opponents and out-run them to score. There's that basketball player who always crossed over and drove to his right. Their coaches would tell them, "Son, if you ever want to make it in the big leagues, you're going to have develop another move." Arjen Robben, if he's so inclined, could look these people in the eye and laugh.
This is because Arjen Robben does one thing better than anyone in the world. He positions himself on the right side touchline of the pitch (he's left-footed), waits to receive the ball, and does the following:
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
Almost there...
THE ARJEN ROBBEN EXPERIENCE!
In general I'm against posting a GIF, but Arjen Robben deserves an exception. He is a GIF.
Everybody knows what's coming. After receiving a pass, Robben will approach the defender with the ball on his left foot, drop his right shoulder, and cut to the inside. You wonder how it continually is so effective? Maybe no defender anywhere has seen a tape of Robben play. Maybe he uses Jedi mind tricks. Maybe Robben's dribbling is air-tight and his agility is like a spark plug. Who knows? What I do know is that when Robben receives the ball with space on the wing, some of the air seems to be sucked out of the room while you wait for him to make his cut. How this unfolds is repetitive, but it is not uninteresting. Robben doesn't dribble the ball so much as glide with it, and watching him do so is one of the most graceful sights on a soccer pitch.
But wait, there's more to the Arjen Robben experience. When he's on his feet moving about the pitch, Robben is a sight to behold. That, however, is only about 80% of the time; the other 20% Robben spends writhing around as if he's been shot. Yes, Robben is also a diver. He's joint favorite with Luis Suarez to be captain of the All-Diver Team, so you can expect to see plenty of this:
Finally, there's a backstory. If you haven't heard of Robben for one of the first two reasons, you may have heard of him because of the 2010 World Cup final against Spain. Robben was instrumental in helping the Netherlands reach the title game, but he likely doesn't think much about that. He probably thinks more about the 62nd minute of that title match when he was put one-on-one with Spanish goalie Iker Casillas and didn't convert.
The game stayed scoreless until the 116th minute when Andres Iniesta scored the goal that lifted the trophy for Spain. Robben no doubt will want to exercise his demons from this game. At age 30, Robben is still in the prime of his career, and the Netherlands have the players to make another deep run. Can he help Holland take the final step in 2014?
This profile is part of the Players to Know series.