Just want to know. Who is your favorite free kick taker...

In my opinion,it's Cristiano Ronaldo (when he gets it right).

Alot of the times,he hits the ball into the wall and sometimes he clears the wall but misses the target or hit the target but is saved by the keeper.

But when he does get it right,boy he gets it right! The way he strikes the ball is totally unique and hard to execute,which is why we don't see other players trying the technique on a regular basis. He has the ability to hit the valve of the ball and use physics to make his balls move all over the place.

So yea,he might not be the most consistent,but he's definitely one of the best,if not the best

Alessandro Del Piero

the entire list got my vote if u ask me,but if u ask me ill pick 3 players from the list to be the best of each style
ill rate them base on their technique:-

Ronaldo - power, dipping ball, accuracy (gets through the wall,its for sure a trouble for the keeper)
Carlos - one hit wonder + wicked outswing
RvP - classic style, accuracy(curl+placing),with extra power (IMO, his balls travel alot more faster then the others,making it quite unstoppable) 1 of the best left footer otherwise the best

others are brilliant as well,well most of them in the list probably 80% or more has the typical classic placing freekicks
the above are my 3 best

Becks and Juninho for me
can score for almost any angle
left right far or near

juninho, like driftmeister said, and with unexpected

but if we talk about proven best
it gotta be Beckham
how many goals have he scored under freekicks?
is there any webbie we can track such records

Christiano Ronaldo, Beckham, Juninho and Roberto Carlos

what!! cr, beckham, Juninho.....they are all good, but R80 jogabonito is the freekick god....enuff said...out of 10 freekick, 7 become wonderful goal....he maybe fat, he not young anymore but when it come to freekick he still the best...Forza Ronaldinho...ask barca fan how many time R10 freekick save their day....

anyway most of this freekick master is with milan milan....Beck, R80, Pirlo....not to forget Seedorf and Sheva oso not bad...

GTG

This post has been edited by Punish: Jan 4 2009, 08:47 AM

juninho for me..his accuracy damn amazing

Juninho - 40+ freekick goals in his career so far

Pedersen of Blackburn, David Bentley and Modric of Tottenham Hotspur
and Frank Ribery

beckham of course ... proven ...

Where is my favorite "Chilavert" ?

I cannot agree with some of you guys here. Ok i have nothing against CRonaldo but if you guys think his hit rate is rather on the low side compared to other free kick takers, why rate him as one of the best. He's scored some good ones, no doubt, but the ones he's ballooned is worth mentioning as well.

The choices in the polls are really good ones if you ask me. To me, one of the best free kick takers has to be Juninho. He's scored from literally anywhere strikeable. He's scored from near, from far, from left and from right and rightfully, he's up there among the best. Beckham too takes some really good kicks. Its his ability to swerve and hit the target. His Man Utd days are probably one of the best times of his life, with his dead ball ability. But of coz there's also some really good guys like Nakamura, Pirlo who's much reverred in Milan, Zidane who strikes them quite good and even Ronaldinho. But i hardly watch them play, so its hard to comment. As for Roberto Carlos, he hits them real hard thats all. I think his highlight freekick of his career has to be the one he scored against France in a friendly. Even my jaw dropped seeing him curl from the outside of his foot and the ball curled NOT over the defensive wall but by the side of the wall. Barthez was rooted and i wont blame him.

As for Van Persie, i watch him play on the TV all the time coz i'm an Arsenal fella. Much as i like to say he's a good free kick taker, the best in Arsenal squad, i still think he's still not quite there with Beckham and Juninho. He's got the ability to hit them real hard and lots of curl but no accuracy unfortunately. Since Henry left us, there's no real free kick king among us whereby the job of taking them is split between VP, Cesc and even sometimes Toure. I'm surprised nobody mentioned Henry who takes some good kicks as well.

Juninho Pernambucano....

Frank Lampard

wesley sneijder..???

i wanted to mention this name as well
the famous GK that comes up to take freekicks and penalty kicks

anyway,its quite unfair to rate players that are retired to players that havent
its like ure taking a Handphone made 10 years ago comparing it with the latest nokia hp today.
zidane,figo,carlos all..shouldnt be in the list
beckham prime time is over(but has achieved his name in freekicks,so as for the other players in the list up there),its also unfair to rate old players with prime time players
del piero all already ah pek(despite an ah pek,he still can kick butts), cant compare with a ronaldo in his early 20's

The list is so random. Where is the option for Others?

voted for Juninho. his FK on target rate is phenomenal.

special mention to Mihajlovic. so far the only dude i know of that can score a hattrick all by FK, n he's a defender.

another mention to Assuncao. not a well-known player, but his FKs are good - i mean, damn good.

My vote goes to Juninho. Magnificent set-pieces from him.

juninho pernambucano

I will say Stevie G. Consistent enough.

Chilavert~~

sinisa mihaljovic and zola

Hashim Mustapha

Best freekick taker or favourite freekick taker? The poll title is Best Freekick Taker but your question is Favourite Freekick taker. Which one? It's 2 different things.

There a lot of footballer who are good in free kick to be named. But my favourite is only David Beckham.

This post has been edited by maxizanc: Jan 4 2009, 01:01 PM

Karim Pin

beckham indeed can hit it right alot of times during his heydays (and might still be able to do it).

but my vote goes to my fav taker, juninho. his range of FK that he's able to take is unbelievable. he's able to adjust the position of the FK with the power that is needed to reach the target. and he's smart as well. if the fk is fr afar, he'll look for a bounce right in front of the keeper so that the ball would loop past the diving keeper.

Ryan taylor of Wigan

They must have learned an awful lot of physics..

my choice

-beckham
-juninho pernambichano
-andrea pirlo

i dont think c ronaldo freekick is really that great...his fk got power n a bit scary but lack of accuracy...even hargreaves fk is better than his fk..well that my opinion...

This post has been edited by skystrike: Jan 4 2009, 02:34 PM

Ronaldo has 8 votes.. Very very funny

Those votes are casted by supporters that blindly support their club players

International : Sinisa Mihajlovic
Local League : Laszlo Repasi

I am Man Utd fan.... Ryan Giggs is the best!!!

David Beckham is good, but not as good when he was still younger

Zinadine Zidane! best for doing headbutts

Zoran Tosic anybody ?

Juninho. No contest.

That's why i asked TS:

The questions is The best freekick taker or favourite free kick taker..

Juninho and followed closely by David Beckham.

Juninho Pernambucano by a country mile....

Watch out for the lad who United signed, Tosic, he is an excellent free kick taker....

Juninho, no doubts for me. where is henry

I voted for becks not because that I do so due to blindly supporting United.. First of all.. all the players mentioned are great free kick takers. But why I choose Becks is because of his accurary (he is also the best dead ball passer or crosser in the world.. well.. back then definitely during his prime).. what impresses me is his technique of taking those kicks... He uses his side foot to place the ball to it's position, which is very very hard to do. Johan Cruyff once commented about it and was very impressed. Maybe this has to do with the fact that his left leg is shorter than his right (this was found during his Real Madrid medical checkup), so he is capable of swinging his right leg and placing the side of his feet to the ball in such way..

Bend it like Becks.

juninho FTW , even in Winning Eleven he is the best freekick taker with 99/99 fk accuracy

Didnt know his left is shorter than his right leg. No wonder when he takes those kicks, there's a certain angle that he's standing. I've noticed that many times and here's what i'm talking about.

cristian chivu's freekick should be decent too

rarely heard of his freekick lately tho

becks for me

nakamura, asia for asian haha

last time in 1 season he averaged 2~3 goals per game in the league.. damn scary

My vote goes to Beckham. I especially like the excitement he generates whenever he steps up for one. Win a foul just outside the area and the commentators will go, "This is Beckham territory bla bla bla." Kinda like the Mcmanaman Special. Pretty obvious that opposition players quake in their pants when they give away a foul near the box. Cameras will be clicking and fans will be on their feets. Such is the pull of Beckham and his freekicks. I like how it's whipped with the inside of his right peg and how the ball curves above the wall and dips just in time to go under the bar. Top drawer stuff. Juninho comes in a close second imo.

The classic example is during the 1999 UCL finals..

Remember the 2 late goals came from Beckham's corner kicks. Notice how accurate they are.

And also the free kick goal he took during the UCL match vs FC Barcelona at home. I watched a slomo video of the goal he scored and trust me.. it was totally 100% using his side foot.. he didn't dip it using his front surface of his kicking foot (like normally how people tend to do when they kick/cross or take free kicks). Very impressive tecnique.. sadly nowadays, Beckham's technique is not as good as before.

Wayne Bridge and Ricardo Quaresma .

i'll go for beckham...since he not only score but can do great passes from free kicks...compared to other taker usually go for goal, he has more choices of free kicks

I think one of the most important freekick goal he ever scored was the equalising goal for England against Greece that put them in Euro 2004. Its like the last minute of the game and they won a freekick in the 'Beckham area' and when he struck it, i think he was like the most popular guy in England at that point.

becks and juninho pernambucano for me.. this two guys very synonim with FK.. FK=Becks/Juninho=FK

heh

hardi jaafar n indraputra....

george hagi from romania and hristo stoichkov of bulgaria....

I voted for Sinisa Mihajlovic. The only player in Serie A who scored a hattrick solely from FKs. As for CR7, I wouldn't even put him in the top 5 even as a Man Utd fan.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sz13PXeHKHE

they all got their spacial area to a take free kick.....Juninho is godlike from far distance....while beckham and RM80 area was in the edge of penalty box... i just wonder now beckham with milan, guest who gonna take freekick after this.....izzit beck or r80 or pirlo......my guest Carlo Achelotti....lol

GTG

This post has been edited by Punish: Jan 5 2009, 04:24 AM

Indera Putera Mahayudin

Tough choice between Pirlo and Juninho Pernambucano. But I picked Juninho

HAte him or love him, becks imo is the best freekick taker alongside Juninho. I once watch i think discovery. they dissect his freekicks. When he is about to strike it, his left ankle was so flexible that he can actually bend it like he bends the ball...

I'm going for Sinisa Mihailavoc simply because he was simply clinical setpieces, scoring a goal every 5 games for Lazio and Inter. Unlike Roberto Carlos who opts for pure power (which occasionally results in a swerve i.e. against Russia), Mihailovic is more delicate and goes for placement.

yeah! sneijder is not in the list?

mihajlovic all the way! very clinical placing! beckham and juninho p was up there too!
c.ronaldo? c'mon... he is on par with giggs

I'm for Mahailovic (hehe) as well. I have a feeling the last few posters who voted for Mihajlovic were born between 1972 - 1982... Damn we're old...

i like pele, garrincha, yashin and eusebio too!
nah! you don't have to be an old man.... youtube is the answer

mihajlovic's precision placing is awesome. while the likes of beckham perfected the art of crossing....
so, each of 'em has their own strength and weaknesses.

the sneijder guy in real madrid is awesome too!

This post has been edited by yngwie: Jan 5 2009, 11:34 AM

wesley sneijder is good to...now he takes beckham fk/set piece duty at real madrid now after beckham leave...am i doing rite???

i born in 84 but vote for Sinisa,i read about him,he training freekick since kid,his dad ask him to kick past gate everyday and aim something behind the gate,no wonder he become free kick specialist

Apparently Becks was aiming through a tyre hung on a tree branch... Dunno how true...

juninho is the man!!! look at the number of goals he scored from freekick...gosh...

now i remember rogerio ceni the brazillian gk ......the highest scoring keeper ever! already scored 83 from penalties / free kicks...........and still counting!

rogerio ceni & jose luis chilavert...who is better???

Mihajlovic's left peg is as accurate as Beck's right peg. I remember seeing him score beauties during his time with lazio..

RVP get more vote than Sinisa,Sinisa even on same level with Nakamura
what a joke

did u guys (for veteran) remember Garincha "S" free kick,i try search in Youtube but didn't found it

I don't know how many of us here are old enough to have watched Garrincha

Mihajlovic was one of the best FK takers in his prime. Better than Becks imo. But I still rate Juninho better. It doesn't matter whether its 25 yards or 35 giving him a FK is almost like giving up a pen

i can't believe thierry henry is not in this. he scored quite a number of free kick goals when he was in arsenal. HENRY!!!

youtube is not really a good way to determine whether a player is good or not
example; c.ronaldo's freekick goals compilation is awesome, but in reality he only scored 1 in around 10
same goes to other players

rogerio ceni scored more goals and still counting

darn right! that's why i only look up to youtube for the videos of ol' school players.
no disrespect here, am a true red devils myself but i felt that c.ronaldo's ability in free kick is nothing to shout about. on par with giggs, perhaps. guess we missed beckham's crossing and dead ball.

yeppp chilavert ftw

Gotta be Becks.
Every pro can curve, but his curve is precise and has great timing.
Its like the ball took a huge spin and suddenly curls away from the keeper

As much as I hate Becks, but I must admit he really is the best free kick taker ever in the world footballing scene.

Still remember Iker disgusted face after Becks scored a free-kick against him. Man Utd VS Real Madrid Good times..

C. Ronaldo is good though, but not as good as Becks.

Fair enough that some people vote for Beckham but I really do think the thread title should be "best free kick taker you've seen". Football gets a whole lot more coverage now especially English football so it's natural to go with someone more current especially if he has played in England.

Just as a note Mihajlovic being a defender had a better goal to game ratio than Beckham did at Real Madrid or LA Galaxy. During the earlier part of their careers, Sinisa's goal average was only slightly less than Beckham's at Man Utd and one must remember he is a defender. I just felt that this was a very poignant point. Also, we are considering free kicks and not goals or crosses from open play. Midfielders will generally score or have more assists from open play as compared to defenders, especially centrebacks which is another reason Mihajlovic stands out.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jan 7 2009, 11:33 AM

Ian Harte used to take mean freekicks as well. His freekick goal against Arsenal few years back was peach.

Voted for Juninho. Watched some of his free kicks videos and I knew straight away the best is him.

Best free kick taker to score would be Juninho. He can score from ANYWHERE.

Best free kick taker to assist? or pass or whatever would be Beckham. That bloke can put the ball anywhere he wants. Not enough power in it though.

Juninho is the man for me....although didnt get the watch the frence league but he already prove it in the CL.....just CL only he already score many freekick....

juninho!!!!! c'mon la, no fight at all

i always rate Branco as the best free kick taker i ever seen in my life.

Its a suprise to me, his name not in above list

This post has been edited by king_kenny: Jan 7 2009, 02:30 PM

as far as i know, Branco is sort of like Roberto carlos, power based kick without much curve. So the chances of hitting the back of the net is not that high i reckon.

yes , but his conversion rate from freekick is far bette than RC.
plus his technique better than RC

Accuracy wise, lack...

Hit the bar quite frequently

All I know is I won't want to be in the wall when he hits one.

hehehe

i guess is subjective,,

current player, i think juninho pernambucano is the best...

before him, i think chilavert.

right now, i don't get it, a lot of team, if free kick around the box, they tap it first, then blast it.. (ala risse FK)

which i dont like very much..its not a indirect freekick,,then y must they tap it first,, just bend it into the top corner,,after that we discuss other option.

This post has been edited by king_kenny: Jan 8 2009, 01:06 AM

Well blasting it in the wall does have some merit. We've seen on occasions where goals have been scored via deflections off the wall. A Branco blast full on would definitely send someone to the ICU man

Ronny from Sporting Club de Portugal scored the most powerful goal ever in footballing history. His left-footed free-kick was measured at about 210km/h.

For the icing on the cake, his goal was an 89th minute winner.

hardi jaafar..heheh

for me, CR (when he gets it right), juninho, beck and pirlo..

I would rate a "good" free kick and hence a good free kick taker by 1) accuracy 2) consistency 3) variety.

My vote will go to the great Maradona. I also agree Sinisa's and Becks are good freek kick taker but lacks variety at times and are predictable, though hard to defend against due to their accuracy.

However, I think free kicks are more to just directing it blindly into goal. A creative play would be where the ball is passed to unsuspecting players, or curled towards a "blind" spot or, the more difficult one, the "expected" spot and still beating the keeper due to accuracy and power. Zola is also one FK taker i admire.

For Zola and Maradona, when they go up to take a FK, opposing players cant just adjust the wall and wait to block their shots. They have to be weary of the potential passes, and you will not be sure whether to order the wall to jump or not, as they have scored FKs under the wall or even through the wall before. And Maradona in one instance, from a FK taken on the right side of the pitch nearer to the corner flag than the goal, manage to deceive everyone by scoring when it seemed easier to curl a cross.

Just my 2 cents.

I am also a big fan of Baggio in this respect.