In football, what is a dummy?

In association football, rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football, a dummy or feint is a player deceiving the opposition into believing he is going to pass, shoot, move in a certain direction, or receive the ball and instead doing something entirely different, thus gaining an advantage.

In association football, a dummy (feint) is often used when dribbling, in offensive situations. Examples used in order to deceive an opponent into what direction you will move, include: the step over as used by Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo, the flip flap (also known as "elastico") used by Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Marseille turn (also known as the "360" or "roulette") used by Zinedine Zidane.

The next most common instance is also an offensive situation, in which a player, in a reasonable shooting area, fakes a shot to trick a defender coming in for a tackle and have him flinch away. This allows the player to go around the defender and shoot from a closer distance. This dummy can also be used on a goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation: a notable example being The Goal of the Century scored by Diego Maradona where, having run half the length of the field past several outfield players, he faced goalkeeper Peter Shilton and left him on his backside with a feint, before slotting the ball into the net.