Nesta vs Ronaldo: How to Defend Against 99 Dribbling

Ask Alessandro Nesta who the hardest attacker he ever faced was, and he doesn't hesitate. Ronaldo Nazário. In 1998, Ronaldo was the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, the youngest ever at just 21, and the most expensive player on the planet. So how are you supposed to defend someone like that? Three rules. 1. Watch the ball, not the feet. 2. Get tight before he turns. 3. Defend in numbers. Of course, there are many more elements, but let's focus on the basics in this video. On the 22nd of February, 1998, Lazio hosted Inter at the Olimpico, three points behind them in a wide-open title race. Two 21-year-olds right in the middle of it. As you'll see throughout the video, Lazio's plan was clear. Whenever the ball got anywhere near Ronaldo, get tight. The thing is, R9 didn't make it easy. He loved dropping into midfield to receive the ball, which meant whoever was marking him had to follow. So it takes real judgement. When do you go with him? When do you let him drop? And when do you hand him over to a midfielder? Ronaldo loved to roam, especially drifting out to the left, so the whole backline had to be perfectly coordinated. But look here, if the midfielder had spotted him, he could've slipped Ronaldo in. Paulo Negro doesn't track him well, and Lazio gets lucky. With someone like Ronaldo, you know you can't defend him alone. And sometimes, you can't defend him fairly even. And it's dirty, I know, but as a defender you have to stop your man at all costs. At this level, football is ruthless. Negro does very well to recover here, after it looked like Ronaldo had found an opening. That's the problem with defending Ronaldo. You think he can't hit you out on the wing, and then he beats two players in a second and whips in a dangerous cross. Nesta's eyes stay glued to the ball, and he nicks it off Ronaldo to stop the counter. Nesta again, right on top of him, and he clears the danger. I want to say it again, defending someone as gifted as Ronaldo is a team effort. The Italian papers wrote that whenever he got the ball, he was chased by at least two men. Lazio's center backs know that if one steps out, the other has to cover. I don't think it helped Ronaldo that he was basically alone up top, with only Djorkaeff supporting him. He needed a bigger center forward next to him to take some of the attention away. The goal is to get tight on Ronaldo so that he cannot turn. If he cannot turn, then you cover most of the danger. You can see the frustration with Inter's forwards. as the Lazio back line completely dominates them. One Italian paper called Ronaldo predictable in his search for the one-on-one. Usually when you see a striker drop this deep it means he's being marked too tightly up front and he's trying to affect the game in a different way. Ronaldo's frustration keeps showing and he goes to ground in the box. There's a tug but Colina isn't interested and the papers the next day said he went down too easily. Vieri is now replacing Djorkaeff and that's exactly the bigger center forward I was talking about. So he'll try to occupy the center backs and push them back, with Ronaldo playing just behind him. Watch Nesta, eyes on the ball, but still within touching distance of Ronaldo. Then he intercepts the pass. You might be thinking, if I stay this tight, won't a sharp turn leave me beaten? That's why you do it with support, so a teammate can cover if it happens. And that has to be built into the game plan beforehand. If you don't coordinate properly, a player like R9 will punish you. And that's full time. 3-0 to Lazio. Ronaldo and Nazario did better than most attackers would have in those conditions. This was a striker who'd finished the season with 25 league goals, but he was shut down because Nesta and company stayed incredibly tight on him and defended in numbers. As the papers put it the next day, Nesta and Lopez handled Ronaldo well, but it was more than just the center backs. It was the whole team working together to stop the most dangerous man on the planet. If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out other videos on my channel. And let me know what else you would like to see.