Antony stole three souls with a cow dribble – of course Man Utd want him

The language of Brazilian football is rich and poetic. Ajax winger and Manchester United target Antony is fluent in all nuances and dialects.

There are dozens of moves and dribbles that Brazilians have perfected and spread around the world, each with its own name. Or in some cases multiple names depending on where you are in the country.

One of the most intriguing is the dribbling da vacadribbling of the cow – which involves passing the ball to one side of the opponent and running around the other.

Why does the cow drool? In the very first years of Brazilian football, the game was often played on a bit of open agricultural land with all the hazards that entailed; dangers, including wandering cows. When faced with one, the best option was to drop it on one side and run around the other.

It's on these grounds that Brazilian legend, two-time World Cup winner and lucky dribbler Garrincha grew up and it's where the bow-legged boy mastered the art of cow dribbling before unleash it upon the world for such devastating effect.

Times have changed. Most modern Brazilian footballers come not from the rural world, but from the narrow lanes of the country's urban sprawl. Yet there are always obstacles, and again, they must be avoided.

So even on the concrete streets the cow dribble lives on, kept alive by modern masters of the feint, twist and turn of the foot like Antony, a natural heir to the dribbler's throne on which Garrincha once sat.

Sunday afternoon, as Ajax tore Groningen apart at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, Antony gave a chapter and a verse on jogo bonito and how it should be played.< /p>

In 75 seconds, he had annihilated his first victim by rising up against Isak Dybvik Maatta of Groningen to strike him down with a petrifying nutmeg.

By the time Antony emerged with the ball on the other side, less than 90 seconds of the 90 minutes had passed, but the game was already over and the Groningen players knew it.

Still, Antoine was determined to twist the knife. Ten minutes later, he did it in style.

Having seen Dybvik Maatta and Laros Duarte overtake the Brazilian and still failing to stop him, the Groningen players have now tripled their efforts to get him out of the game.

The answer to these unexpected and seemingly insurmountable obstacles? The cow drools, of course.

Antony first cut inside Duarte and was then confronted by Dbvik Maatta and his mate Tomas Suslov. Maybe they didn't bother.

Antony slid his cleats over the ball, kicked it the other way with the outside of his boot, then, like greased lightning, brought it back the other way, around his back by Dybvik Maatta. Naturally, Antoine ran the other way around his marker to retrieve it.

Although the blow was unsuccessful, there was no return of this degree of humiliation.

These were relatively well-paid professional footballers, not a small herd of dairy cows, but cow dribbling had been applied in the same direction.

At this point, confidence was dripping from Antony like fries from a Dutchman's fries.

A few minutes later, he rolled up a sight on the roof of the Groningen net. Then, after just under half an hour, he turned that goal threat into something more tangible.

He cut inside the desperate figure of Dybvik Maatta and whipped out a venom shot and leaned into the top corner.

Before half-time, it was three o'clock, a delicious cross from Antoine set it up.

After the interval, Ajax made four, five, then six.

Although Antony wasn't directly involved in any of these, it was the 22-year-old Brazilian who broke the morale of the Groningen players, allowing his teammates to roll easily in the second half.< /p>

After the match, Antony was asked about interest from Manchester United, who have been linked with a move but are reportedly unwilling to pay the £70million Ajax would like in return for his services.

"Will [Erik] Ten Hag call me? No idea," he told NOS (via Metro). will come, we will see."

We will indeed see.

But after the stunning display Manchester United produced on Saturday and Antony's performance on Sunday, Ten Hag and the United hierarchy might well think that £70m looks like a bargain.

By