When a player hits a shot from distance, especially from 25 yards out, it's sure to get massive reactions but nothing beats the feeling of grabbing the goal via a free kick.
From the day it was ever invented (Shoutout to whoever did it first), free kicks has been, till this day, one of the best set piece play in modern football.
Scoring from a penalty or from a corner can indeed bring joy to the fans and players but there is something about direct freekicks that hit differently.
Think about it, you are standing over the ball, 30 yards out with a wall of players put in to prevent your moment but you still find a way to get the ball over or around them and into the net, using a different style or the other such as the knuckle style and either leaving the keeper stranded or just stretching to grasp whatever is left.
Over the years, we have seen the likes of Pele, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Roberto Carlos, Beckham and many more hit sublime free kicks with super styles that have made us think if it was even possible.
Take for instance, Beckham's free kick goal against Greece in 2001 hat sent England to the world cup.
It was a special moment for him and his nation, a moment which will always be remembered by not just England but also by their opponents too. Or Roberto Carlos incredible trivela freekick from over 40 yards out for Brazil against France in 1997, a technique that has gone on to become one of the best in real life and console games such as FIFA and PES.
In recent times, we have also seen new people trying to emulate this greats, even going as far as surpassing them and taking the spot for themselves, and when we say this, there are two popular names that come in mind and this is Argentina maestro Lionel Messi and Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo.
These two GOATS have competed for everything, ranging from goals down to accolades. I mean, who can forget Ronaldo's knuckleball freekick against Portmouth when he played for Manchester United in 2008, or Messi's freekick against Liverpool in the Champions League Semi Final for Barcelona in 2019.
In the end, it is Argentinan that comes first in this particular department with a slim margin.
With 830 career goals for club and country, Ronaldo has been able to rack up so far, a total of 60 freekick goals, his latest coming on the 23rd of March, 2023, where he achieved his feat playing for his country.
But he is 2 short of his rival, who has 62 and just like Ronaldo, Messi added to his tally on the same day while on international duty with Argentina.
La Pulga's freekick goal took him up to 800 goals for club and country, becoming the third men footballer to reach this feat, just behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently the highest men goal scorer in history and Josef Bican.
As great as two are, they are just chasing to beat the record that has already been established and the player that made this technique look easy is the great Juninho Pernambucano.
The former Lyon and Brazilian midfielder scored freekicks from different distances and positions, whether it is from 25 yards or 30 yards or more.
He was the one person you could count on to deliver when all hope was lost, as far as it is in touching diatance of the goal.
Juninho made freekicks look like penalty kicks, as he would go on to glide the ball past the wall and goalkeeper a record 77 times.
He might not look like a threat in the pitch but once he stands over a free kick, he sends shivers down the spine of his opponents.
There are other players who are edging their names into the history books using this beautiful set piece, honorable mentions to Southampton's James Ward Prowse, who is hoping to surpass Beckham's premier league record, Tottenham's Heung-Min Son, Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, Newcastle's Kieran Trippier, Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, Paris Saint Germain's Neymar, Juventus's Angel Di Maria and many more.
Penalties are great, especially the chipping technique, Corner goals are excellent but one thing is sure and that is, the ability of hitting a direct freekick with accuracy and precision will always be a good skill to have in your arsenal.
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