Bicycle Kick - History

History

There are different claims of invention in different parts of the world for this popular move. Generally, players noted as being the inventors of the kick tend to be those that have made the move during national or international tournaments in an official association football match. Nonetheless, the invention of the kick is controversial as different countries have different proposals on how and where the move was invented. For instance, in Peru, the move is attributed to the players of Callao, and it is often told that they invented the move when playing with English sailors in the late 19th century. In Chile, Basque Ramón Unzaga is credited with being the first player to create the bicycle kick in 1914 and exhibit it in an official football match. In Italy, the invention is usually credited to Carlo Parola, who allegedly invented the move on 15 January 1950. Further contributing to the controversy, some players that have performed the move attribute the invention to someone else or themselves. For example, Leônidas, a famous player from Brazil, attributed the invention of this move to another Brazilian player, Petronilho de Brito. If that were not enough, sometimes the attributions of invention get jumbled, and people begin to attribute the invention of the kick to famous players who performed, but did not claim invention of, the kick such as Hugo Sánchez from Mexico and David Arellano from Chile.