Football's great entertainers - ranking the biggest showboaters
From Champions League toe-pokes to swivelling on a dime in baggy blaugrana, the Ballon d'Or winner's very presence was enough to tune in for. His every touch electric. Like a giddy toddler toying with a puppy - now you see the ball, now it's skipping into your net.
In Barcelona, Ronaldinho elastico'd so Lionel Messi could run (and run and run). Even in his less explosive post-Nou Camp days, he remained a must-watch. For the national team, though, Ronaldinho's heir was Neymar Jr.
There has been a lot of questioning Neymar's credentials recently but Yannick Bolasie, now playing in Brazil and close to making this list himself, hit back calling Neymar "the king" who "played real street soccer on the elite stages". Neymar was, in his prime, simultaneously an outrageously talented and effective footballer, in the top 10 for goals per game in Europe's top five leagues this century. He was just so skilful - it's the feints and rainbow flicks that are etched in your mind.
That is also a good barometer for who makes this showboat list and who doesn't - Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Messi, for example, could all manipulate a football in ways most professionals only dream of, but they were also superior in almost every facet of the game. A real showboater is someone whose very mention elicits warm, fuzzy memories of flamboyant flicks and trickery. West Ham, for example, had their own 'Brazilian', as dubbed by the great Pele, in a young Joe Cole - buzzing across the Upton Park turf looking like he'd borrowed his big brother's shirt, oversized shorts tickling his knees, a blur of body feints and impossible turns, feet twitching quicker than the eye can capture.
Early-era carefree Cole was one of the most exhilarating technicians on the planet. Likewise, in a town just north of Manchester, fans queued up to see their own waltzing, weaving wizard in Jay-Jay Okocha, who became the face of Sam Allardyce's Bolton Wanderers revolution. The Nigerian, who captained the Trotters to a League Cup final and was later named the greatest player to ever grace the Reebok turf, was sublimely creative - a deadball specialist and scorer of outlandish goals.