Top Free Kick Takers of All-Time

Discussion in 'Players & Legends' started by Lucas..., Jan 9, 2013.

  1. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    I've always thought, and still think, of Zico as the best. The curious thing was actually to see some free-kicks vs Italy in 1982 that he didn't take (not necessarily very long range either). I know obviously an Eder free-kick had paid dividends vs Argentina, with a goal for Zico from a rebound, and Zico had lost half his shirt and been fouled a lot by Gentile vs Italy ofc. But I'd have thought Zico could/should have been given any free-kick going in such a game in the hope/expectation that like Beckham vs Greece sooner or later one would find the net (better chance for Zico to do so sooner than Beckham even I'd have thought).
     
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  2. giles varley

    giles varley Member+

    Oct 8, 2013
    nottingham uk
    Club:
    Leeds United AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Yeah, zico is one of the best ever..especially from 'close range' free kicks in the way he could dip the ball..
    Obviously superior to Beckham- but there were many brazilians that were better than beckham..
    Zico, Neto, Carioca, Nelinho, Eder were all incredible free kick takers.
    Nelinho and Eder were masters of the 'trivela' ( outside of the foot/power and curve ) a style copied by Branco and then Roberto Carlos ( although Carlos was not in the same class as the others ) Nelinho could swerve the ball unbelievably. He must surely be the best 'swerver' of all..
    Neto is up there with the best ever as is Carioca although not many people are too familiar with them as they never played in europe..
     
  3. giles varley

    giles varley Member+

    Oct 8, 2013
    nottingham uk
    Club:
    Leeds United AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    #203 giles varley, Apr 26, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2016
    My thoughts exactly. But at the time Eder was famous for his free kicks in brazil at atletico mineiro and shared free kick duties with zico..
     
  4. wm442433

    wm442433 Member+

    Sep 19, 2014
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    #204 wm442433, Apr 26, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2016
    '98 is included (http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/trivia.html#moregoals / it gives the total of goals scored on fk by year too).
    Stojkovic scored in the play against Germany in '98.
    Nelinho has one fk, no other.
    I've verfied for Matthaüs, and he has "only" one : Morocco '86.

    Other than that in Europe in the 90s there was Milinko Pantic as free-kick specialist too.
     
  5. wm442433

    wm442433 Member+

    Sep 19, 2014
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    Cubillas "second" is West Germany 1970. But it's an indirect free-kick so that's an error from rsssf unless they counted indirect free-kicks too.
    Pelé has well Bulgaria '66 + Romania '70 (verified).

    Players with two free-kicks goals up to 2002 (+ Beckham 1998 + 2006) : Pelé, Rivelino, Genghini, Beckham (Cubillas not).
     
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  6. Lockeroom

    Lockeroom Member

    Apr 11, 2008
    Our Antonín Panenka was the best Czech free-kicks taker ever.
     
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  7. Bada Bing

    Bada Bing Member+

    Jul 13, 2012
    Finland
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Counted official career direct freekick goals of these

    45 Cronaldo @ 31
    26 Messi @ 28

    Surpassing Cronaldo's best (6 in 09-10) Messi has now scored 7 direct freekicks with Barcelona 15-16.

    Messi - "I've been doing extra free-kick training for a while now. I'm practising every time I can."

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  8. Bada Bing

    Bada Bing Member+

    Jul 13, 2012
    Finland
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    What's the highest amount of fk goals in a season? Messi scored 9 in 15-16 which is more than I remember anyone having in modern football.

    Couple more in Copa America.

    [​IMG]
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  9. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #209 carlito86, Jul 9, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2016
    Ronaldo 09/10
    6 freekicks in 35 games:0.17

    Messi 15/16
    7 freekicks in 49 games:0.14
    you lose once again

    honourable mentions
    Ronaldo 08/09
    6 freekicks in 53 games

    Ronaldo 07/08
    5 freekicks in 49 games

    The little man is still way behind Ronaldo in freekicks(historically and peak level)

    also forgot to mention Messi has played 100+ games in the champions league and hasn't scored a single freekick despite being his teams main fk taker since 08/09. just how many fk attempts do you think he has missed..the number must be astronomical

    How many freekick goals does Ronaldo have in the cl?
    The most in cl history tied with del Piero on 11 free kicks . Lionel Messi has a LONG while before he can be compared to Cristiano Ronaldo in freekicks currently it isn't even close
    when Ronaldo was 26 years old in 2010/11 he had already scored 30+ freekicks in his career Messi at 26 years old barely had 10 in his career
    dude you should just quit your Messi inspired propaganda campaign before you embarrass yourself any more than you already have
     
  10. peterhrt

    peterhrt Member+

    Oct 21, 2015
    Club:
    Leeds United AFC
    The most I can find is 14 by Pierre van Hoojidonk for Feyenoord in 2001/02. He scored 10 in the league (source Sky.com) and 4 in the UEFA Cup. Transfermkt.com shows only 7 of the league goals plus the 4 in the UEFA Cup, which would make 11 in total. But Transfermkt.com does not record all free-kick goals, particularly in years gone by.

    The following season, 2002/03, van Hoojidonk scored a further 10 free-kick goals for Feyenoord. 8 were in the league, 1 in the UCL and 1 in the UEFA Supercup Final against Real Madrid. All are shown on Transfermkt.com.
     
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  11. Lucas...

    Lucas... Member+

    Dec 18, 2012
    This thread is the only page on internet about free kicks statistics. Great work y'all.

    Are you sure about that? In my researches he scored 5 gols in international matches, not 12. http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads...tistics-and-discussion.1981757/#post-27133471
     
  12. peterhrt

    peterhrt Member+

    Oct 21, 2015
    Club:
    Leeds United AFC
    goal.com - "of the 20 goals he scored for the Selecao, a dozen came from dead-balls..."

    Wikipedia - "In 68 international matches he scored 20 goals, including a dozen using his trademark free-kicks."

    Neither of these sources go into detail. Wikipedia took Didi's 20 goal total from RSSSF.

    I hadn't seen your other thread. Some tremendous work has gone into producing all that detail, and one would certainly have more confidence in your own figures for both Didi's international free-kick goals (5) and total goals (21).
    Didi's club career goal total seems elusive. Using the same ratio he would need to have scored at least 210 official goals to register 50 from direct free-kicks. Do you think that is likely? Also, your researches show that 5 of Rivelino's 26 international goals were from free-kicks. Applying the same ratio to all his official goals would allow him into the "50 Club", which would be fitting.
     
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  13. Lucas...

    Lucas... Member+

    Dec 18, 2012
    #213 Lucas..., Jul 12, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2016
    Oh, I didnt know these articles. Just to make sure, I check again the reports of the matches when he scored. I keep the 5 free-kick goals info.

    Including friendlies, Didi scored at least 211 goals in clubs.

    "Pelo Flu, foram 298 jogos e 91 gols."
    https://imortaisdofutebol.com/2012/07/07/craque-imortal-didi/

    "Didi disputou 313 partidas, marcando 114 gols"
    http://www.canalbotafogo.com/craques.php?Didi

    "realizou 19 partidas pelo Real Madrid e marcou seis gols"
    https://books.google.com.br/books?id=ttfeH1GhcksC&pg=PA1956&lpg=PA1956&dq=didi real madrid gols&source=bl&ots=fuVMceWnYn&sig=Dpi7H8JE5IksgH-lZAX8aAaof-U&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjisO3Yju_NAhWDjZAKHTw9Bd8Q6AEISzAI#v=onepage&q=didi real madrid gols&f=false

    I thought it was quite reasonable to think that he scored at least 50 or 60 free-kick goals, but now I'm not sure, because I imagine that maybe, in Botafogo, Garrincha was the free-kick taker too. About Rivelino, I think it's very possible, because he always was the #10, the main player.
     
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  14. SirWellingtonSilva

    May 30, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Maradona 1980: 9 free kicks 45 games: 0.2
    Maradona 87/88: 8 free kicks 39 games: 0.2

    Any better ratios?
     
  15. peterhrt

    peterhrt Member+

    Oct 21, 2015
    Club:
    Leeds United AFC
    Please see five posts above. Pierre van Hoojidonk's 14 direct free-kick goals for Feyenoord in 2001/02 came in 44 matches. Ratio 0.32.

    The following season he scored 10 in 38 matches. Ratio 0.26.
     
  16. EdgarAllanPoet

    EdgarAllanPoet Member+

    May 1, 2011
    Cristiano Ronaldo being my favorite player aside is the best free-kick taker of his generation. I know he's down to only 3 or 4 a year now but the distances he hits them from and techniques he uses I believe sets him apart. I have seen some of his kicks make right-hand turns in mid-air which is awfully difficult to execute and unique. He does not just bend and shoot for placement. His power makes his movement unpredictable and puts a trajectory on the ball I don't see other players mimicking. He has intentionally played them under and through walls. He has played intentional bounces to force errors. He also can play traditional curling shots successfully. He will likely end his career in the 70-75 range putting him in elite company. All-time I'd say he is undeniably top 5. There are too many discrepancies in the records of past players and different sources give vastly differing accounts. I've read Juninho hit them at a 50% rate which I find impossible. I've never seen a player anywhere close to scoring on half of their direct direct free-kicks.
     
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  17. jefflebowski16

    Feb 9, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    "Trivela" is a new one to me...I like it.
     
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  18. Caspian

    Caspian Member

    Sep 15, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    I totally agree with you friend....Some of his free kicks are available in youtube and they are stunning to say the least.His FK's are right up there with the best FK's ever taken in any era.Not to forget that he was taking those FK's with his era soccer balls which says a lot...As far as i knew,i may be wrong,Pele was the only footballer who could take fK's with his weaker foot and score as well.Friends, if you know of any other player who could do that please let me know.I suppose it would be a great piece of info for all the members here.
     
  19. Caspian

    Caspian Member

    Sep 15, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Friend i guess you have missed out on the 2-1958World Cup assists-Pele made against Russia and Sweden in the finals...if included in your list his total NT assists would be 32...there is also some confusion regarding his total number of NT matches which is generally accepted to be 92 whereas it is reported in some soccer literature that FIFA refused to grant official status to one his NT matches reducing the total to 91...otherwise i suppose your compilation is a first,at least as far as i now,on his assists...is a reference point to all those who wish to research and compile on Pele stats...stupendous work....
     
  20. _Ziggy_

    _Ziggy_ Member

    Flamengo
    Brazil
    Mar 20, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    This is a very hard subject when going back in history. We have to seriously consider the equipment used, mostly the ball and shoes. They've changed so much, that maybe categorizing the eras might make it easier?
     
  21. celito

    celito Moderator
    Staff Member

    Palmeiras
    Brazil
    Feb 28, 2005
    USA
    Club:
    Palmeiras Sao Paulo
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    There is a guy in Brazil who did some research into FK numbers (official games) and came up with this (don't have his sources):

    Beckham - 65
    Ronaldinho - 66 (excluding NT youth teams)
    Marcos Assunção - 72 (could be more)
    Juninho Pernambucano - 76
    Marcelinho Carioca - 90 (could be more ... 59 for Corinthians)
    Zico - 101 (claims to be all official games with 62 for Flamengo)

    For me the last 3 are the best ever, but I think Marcelinho tops it over Zico because he had better range.

    Here are 30 of the top FKs from Marcelinho.

     
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  22. nooshcat

    nooshcat Member

    Jan 3, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Juninho and Zico technique taking the free kick are very similar. But Zico seems to have more precision ( the balls enters very near the angle ) and Juninho more power and drive.
     
  23. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
  24. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    One has to consider the distance of the wall too. This varies a lot somehow. Distance of the wall at Man City yesterday was a joke, 2 meters further as it should be.
     
  25. celito

    celito Moderator
    Staff Member

    Palmeiras
    Brazil
    Feb 28, 2005
    USA
    Club:
    Palmeiras Sao Paulo
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    All right. Send us a report after you've done your research on all FKs these guys took and their distances to the wall ... let us know if you find a trend favoring certain players :thumbsup:
     

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