What happened to the great free kickers?

In the early 2000 we had Beckham, Zidane, Figo, juninho pernanbucano, Veron, Riquelme, rivaldo, Recoba and a large etc-

Now bar Cristiano ronaldo, (who IMO is not at the same level as the previously mentioned) there aren't many players who distinguish themselves for being great freekickers

I blame the new balls.

Good point about the new balls.

Juninho was the last of the greats

Cristiano being a free kick master is a myth imo....not even close to the names you have mentioned

Sneijder,Ronaldinho and Juninho are the best in the world atm if you ask me

Yep sneijder is an example. But Ronaldinho and juninho are not exactly at their prime.

Nakamura not being mentioned... disturbs me a little bit.

CR7 is an excellent fk, he just uses different style now, because of potential risk to injure his ankle.

Nirgall wrote:Yep sneijder is an example. But Ronaldinho and juninho are not exactly at their prime.

well,i follow Flamengo and Vasco and i can assure these guys are still masters in the art of free kick taking,not only at taking direct shots but also in corners and throw ins.

Ronaldinho's free kick vs Mexico last month

justdoit_ wrote:Nakamura not being mentioned... disturbs me a little bit.

Some other great ones have not appeared. I can't remember all.

Del Piero
Giovinco has hit a few good ones but nowhere near the names listed

Seb says Hi

Seb Larssen is a best to be honest at free kicks but still no where near the guys mentioned.....At the moment CR7 and Sneijder i think are at their prime fk abilities.

Ever heard of Leighton Baines? Best freekick taker in the world.

TBH, Zarate is a joke of a player in some instances, but his freekicks are something.

No mention of Honda?

Free kicks have nowhere to go but down once Juninho and Beckham retire

Sinisa Mihajlovic once scored a hat trick with free kicks, against lazio I think.

Tino Costa.

Gourcuff

I feel like stirring up a sh*t storm.

Cristiano Ronaldo is probably on Juninho's level when it comes to free kicks.

Here's why:

Ronaldo had 5 free kicks in 07/08, 5 in 08/09, 6 in 09/10 and 5 in 10/11.

He has been consistent with the amount he hits and always misses atleast 10-12 times the amount he scores.

For all the Juninho lovers that claim he's superior to Ronaldo, in 8 seasons at Lyon he had 43 free kicks. That's 5.37 a season. Since Ronaldo has become a desiganted free kick taker in 2007 he has 21 free kicks in 4 seasons. That's 5.21 a season.

So Ronaldo is virtually even with the widely pronounced greatest free kick specialist ever.

That's not even counting the numbers Ronaldo is likely to get this season either (He netted his first of the season tonight if I'm not mistaken).

if anything the balls are helping the freekick takers these days. the flight of the ball is much different and much easier to manipulate

and i agree.. not too many great fk takers in this generation

Zealous wrote:For all the Juninho lovers that claim he's superior to Ronaldo, in 8 seasons at Lyon he had 43 free kicks. That's 5.37 a season. Since Ronaldo has become a desiganted free kick taker in 2007 he has 21 free kicks in 4 seasons. That's 5.21 a season.

What about per minutes/games played?

probably not amongst the greats, but still an awesome free kicker is Sejad Salihovic.

Del piero, one of the greatest free kick takers ever

i can't believe no one mentioned pirlo. Even if he isn't as good as he once was, i think he is right up there amongst the best