How to make a soccer player push the ball?

I'm wondering what is the right strategy to make a soccer player dribble.

Should I put a Box Collider on his feet and make them collide with the ball? Or should I do that by script, like:

 if (ballPosition within 50cm of player) {
       // Add forward force to the ball
 }

Also, how do I go about the footsteps of the player, so that the forward force is applied to the ball exactly when his foot hits the ball?