I can't believe that Alessandro Delpiero is not getting more love. He's by far the best free kick specialist in the game currently and one of the best all time. Becks can't even come close. Baggio, Juninho and Mihalovic are also up there.
You have to remember that most people on this site are teenagers who only watch Man United games. Del Piero hasn't scored on a FK against them, that I can remember.
Zico, Neto, Marcelinho Carioca, Juninho Pernambucano, Renato, Maradona & Juan Roman Riquelme. Beckham...... Leader of the dead-ball, lol! Not even remotely. Foolish Ignorance hoodwinked into thinking that being famous is proof of influence in the game. Plus marks to those who included the deadly Mihajlovic (AT FK scorer in calcio), Alvaro Recoba (also incl. compatriots Ruben Sosa & Daniel Fonseca).
Also how can Carlos be on it he scored one free kick every 50 attempts (guess work), granted it usually was a screamer when it went in.
1- Juninho 2- Zico Zico scored an uncredible amount of free-kicks but Juninho's ratio is unmatchable (1 free-kick every 7.5 games during his Lyon's days vs 1 free-kick every 11.5 games during Zico's carreer). Platini and Mihajlovic (both around 45 free-kicks with a ratio of about 1 free-kick every 12.5 games) come behind. Platini might very well be the greatest free-kick taker ever at the international stage however - 12 free-kicks in 71 caps (1 free-kick every 6 games) for Les Bleus says it all.
do you know also the success ratio?? thats the most important, how many free kicks did these players take?
Out of curiosity, have any of the FK specialists mentioned ever scored two goals in one WC game? Or scored an important FK in the very last seconds of overtime (in a WC game)?
Juan Roman Riquelme scored two beautiful free-kicks in a 2010 WCQ against Chile in Buenos Aires. The Argentine playmaker wasn't even getting 1st team football at the time - frozen out at Villareal! Whilst not an International match, an honourable mention to Sinisa Mihajlovic who scored a hattrick of free-kicks for Lazio against Sampdoria in 1998.
Roberto Carlos is way overrated. He had that one amazing shot, and I don't think he ever scored on a free kick again. All he does is blast it, and usually hits the wall. I can't believe he has ten votes already. You could say he has the most powerful shot, but his accuracy is probably average at best.
Actually, it usually hit that guy up in row 102. Roberto Carlos is the most overrated free-kick 'specialist' in history.
Out of current players, it's got to be Del Piero. All time, well, the bestI've ever seen is easily Sinisa Mihajlovic, who banged them in from every conceivable range and angle. Apart from scoring a free-kick hattrick, 27 free-kick goals in Serie A alone... well, stats rarely lie.
talking about number, currently no one scored more freekicks than Juninho P. All time? Zico scored 40+ freekicks (could be 50) and of ourse he covered all the ranges and angles as well. IMO, Mihajlhovic was also great and could very well be in TOP3 along with Zico, Platini and/or Maradona
Andrea Pirlo. His kind of free kicks differ... but the guy scores the most beautiful goals. He did one recently... but his best free kick goals were from several years ago. But there is something about his free kicks that is a step above those mentioned. People will certainly dispute me on this one. But he's a step above. I rate him higher than Dinho.