Arnautovic dummy. Will this be the best dummy of the entire 2024 Euro tournament? It just might be.
Marko Arnautovic with the genius dummy, Christoph Baumgartner with the calm and cool finish for Austria.
There is an art to the dummy in soccer. It requires a certain amount of understanding of the game and soccer IQ let’s say. Arnautovic, at 35, has it. He wouldn’t play his club soccer at that age for Inter Milan if he didn’t have such soccer smarts.
It is a brilliant awareness by Arnautovic to realize where Baumgartner is on the field and let the pass go through to him.
There are a lot of players in the area, both Polish and Austrian, so dummying the pass throws everyone off except Baumgartner. It gives him a few more seconds to set up for the shot and pass the soccer ball past Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny
Moreover, a dummy move like this – letting the ball just go through your legs – should get more credit. The Arnautovic dummy should least count as an assist on Baumgartner’s goal, right.
The dummy play in soccer is so subtle and genius. More often than not, the dummy play is done by the best of the best in world football. Usually it is players of the quality of Lionel Messi and Luka Modric who pull off a dummy that leads to a goal for their team.
I wonder how many dummy moves like this one have been done in the tournament so far. Not just any dummy, but one where it results in a goal.
Watch the Arnautovic dummy in the video below. The video jumps right to the pass, dummy, and goal. Later, Arnautovic would go on to slot home a penalty kick. Austria ended up winning the game 3-1.
