The above question came up in Mark’s blog about Del Piero (see below) and it stuck in my mind after my colleague Andre Assier interviewed Juninho this week.
Here’s an extract from Andre’s piece, which you can read in full here:
Olympique Lyon’s dead ball specialist Juninho scored his 40th free kick goal for the club against Steaua Bucharest in a Champions League game on Wednesday to make his mark on the French side’s scoring records.
The strike in a 2-0 home win meant the Brazilian midfielder joined compatriot Sonny Anderson as the club’s all-time top scorer in European competition with 16 by netting his 94th goal in all competitions for the French champions.
”I knew the goalkeeper would try and anticipate on one side so I just shot and wrongfooted him,” the 33-year-old told Reuters in an interview.
So, to get back to the question in hand, is Juninho the best free kick taker out there, or is Mark right in plumping for Del Piero?
It’s interesting that from January, AC Milan will have three of the best dead ball specialists, at least by repute. David Beckham, Ronaldinho and Andrea Pirlo will all be lining up for Milan in the New Year, meaning a lot of pushing and shoving when free kicks are awarded, I’d expect.
If the field is limited to the players already mentioned, I’d go for Juninho, but then again, I bet there are loads of other gifted free kick takers out there who just don’t get the credit that goes to that Famous Five.
So who deserves to be on the list? And is there anyone better than Juninho? Let us know in the comments.
PHOTO: Olympique Lyon’s Juninho (L) celebrates after scoring against Steaua Bucharest during their Champions League soccer match at the Gerland stadium in Lyon, Nov. 5, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Pratta
Trackback
30 comments so far
Previous | 2 | 1 | Next
Just watched the highlights of OL’s game against Fiorentina … if that first half free kick from Juninho had dipped another inch it would have been the definitive answer, no?
- Posted by Kevin FDear All,
seriously, it’s a nice topic but the answer is so obvious. Just watched videos, check statistics and the answers as clear as crystal. Juninho outranks everyone in the list by far. Just look at youtube, dailymotion, whatever video stream u have but just watch how incredibly accurate, powerfull and regular Juninho is. I jsut watched Fiorentina Lyon…2 master piece again.
- Posted by MichaelI agree that Nakamura should definitely be considered. Soccer brings so much joy into the lives of so many people around the world. The Favela Project is working (based in the USA) to bring soccer into the lives of kids in the Favelas of Brazil. A Favela is another word for a slum, basically shantytowns, that exist in urban areas of Brazil. The Favela Project tries to enhance the lives of the children who live there by using soccer as a positive vehicle for positive change in their lives. For more information on this charity, please visit: http://www.favelaproject.org. Thank You.
- Posted by IanNakamura from Celtic has to be on the list.
- Posted by ScottLove Del Piero and his current form, and have written about him in the past, see - http://www.serieatalk.com/who-is-the-ita lian-ironman/106
however, the master of deadball skills is still Brasilian and Lyon midfielder Juninho Pernambucano even Andrea Pirlo understands this reality, “I started watching how Juninho kicked and tried to learn” said Pirlo.
http://www.serieatalk.com/juninho-puts-o n-free-kick-scoring-clinic-lyon-3-2-nice /352
- Posted by Kevini nearly forgot something
Best league by decline in quality (Sadly): Italian and French
But i think overall, spanish premeira liga is still the best, beating the English Premier League by a small margin (however much hardcore English commentators might disagree!)
- Posted by RITESHRonaldinho…is THE BEST…
- Posted by RITESHdel piero: second best
juninho: third best
i agree that Carlos was overrated.. so was Figo… and even to an extend Ch Ronaldo is overrated when it comes to freekicks
yeah that’s right
van Hooijdonk was a great freekick taker!(uefa cup final fk goal was awwwwwsome!!) I forgot to mention him. Pirlo is good too but can’t do the variations of power of DP or juninho. I think Zidane was very underrated (he always was second in line behind DelP or Beckham or ROberto Carlos. Real Betis player Marcos Assuncao is so darn accurate too, almost always forces a save or hits the post or baack of the net,
Favourite Del Piero fk: vs. Monaco in the champions league 98
Favourite Juninho fk: vs. Bayern in the champions league,
really cool discussion topic this is…
- Posted by theoI’ll take, in order, Juninho, Ronaldo, Del Piero.
- Posted by Mikehttp://startingeleven.blogspot.com/2008/ 11/starting-eleven-football-blog-roundup _10.html
messed by goals, Juninho is the best free-kick-taker - he scores against every team in champions league or Ligue 1. but in variations, i think same like many others here, del piero is better - maybe he isn’t so successfull in goals because often Nedved shoots free-kicks for Juvents.
- Posted by ZambrottaThinking at the last 8-9 years - there also was Pierre van Hooijdonk, Feyenoord Rotterdam, who scores fantastic goals against every team, maybe uefa-cup final against Borussia Dortmund.
Roberto Carlos and Becks free-kicks are highlights, but they aren’t so successfull like others.