35-year-old Benfica captain Luisao gave his younger teammates an invaluable lesson when it comes to asserting yourself in their match against Feirense on Sunday. With the ball in an extremely dangerous free kick position, Feirense created a five-man wall that gradually increased as Benfica players attempted to disrupt it.
It's one of the greatest moments for spectators and players alike: witnessing the perfectly struck dead ball. Free kick specialists are a dime a dozen in football. Beating modern keepers from distance has become an incredible art which very few possess. While players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos have occasionally produced the spectacular, there are very few who can consistently produce the goods. These are the 5 best free kick takers of all-time.
A pretty one sided affair Wednesday evening in the state of Minnesota at the US Bank Stadium as Chelsea defeated AC Milan 3-1 to end their US Tour. However, that did not stop Giacomo Bonaventura from wowing a few Americans with his brilliance from distance. A 38th minute free kick sent the US Bank stadium rocking after he bent a ball up and over the wall to even the game at 1-1. Some may say he is even more accurate than Blair Walsh..... too soon? Nevertheless, it is always exciting seeing screaming, spinning free kicks find the back of the net. Cheers mate, great goal. Ring the bell!
England were unceremoniously dumped out of Euro 2016 by a plucky, vastly underrated Iceland side, and now everyone in England is mad. They are mostly mad at Raheem Sterling (for no real good reason), but they are also mad at Harry Kane.
They are so mad someone made this very funny video of Harry Kane, who is a legitimately nice dude and doesn't deserve this, kicking set pieces in every direction except toward the goal.
Big players come to play on the big stage. And that is sure what Messi did last Tuesday in case you missed it. After an early Argentina goal, it was Messi's turn in the 32nd minute to break American hearts and shatter their hopes of making the Copa America final on their home soil. The United States were sure excited to see Messi play in North America but were they expecteing a free kick of this difficulty and expertise. Of course they were, it's Messi, but what a treat it was to watch him play against the US.
It’s known as the Panenka technique, but I like to call it the “Just To Say I did.” To many people the Panenka technique is a gigantic and needless risk, but those people don’t understand. Yes, the Panenka raises the stakes of what is already the highest stakes part of soccer, the penalty shootout, but that is the point.
Gareth Bale says he doesn’t listen to Cristiano Ronaldo’s advice on free-kicks, and we gotta say that we fully support this decision.
Bale has scored two free-kicks at Euro 2016 so far, and when asked if his success could be due to advice Ronaldo gave him, Bale had this to say: "No, not really. I do it my way. I like my own style.”
Goals like these from the Spanish are going to make Euro 2016 very, very exciting. David Silva put his sniper specialized left foot to the test against South Korea in a warm up match for Spain. From about 30 yards out, Silva hit a firecracker that went bar down in the upper right corner, virtually giving South Korea's shot stopper no chance at ruining the beautiful moment. Spain's shot at redemption from their falter in 2014 will be tested in this upcoming month as they begin their Euro 2016 debut on June 13th.