Roberto Carlos Named His 3 Best Free-Kick Takers of All Time - Included England Legend

 You’d be lying to yourself if the name Roberto Carlos didn’t automatically spring to mind when you think of the greatest free-kick of all time – and the illustrious Brazilian once revealed who the three greatest free-kick takers in football history were.

Carlos’ perfectly executed curler against France during the opening match of Le Tournoi, a competition utilised as a warm-up for the following year’s FIFA World Cup, gets better with each watch. It’s considered one of, if not the, best of all time.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Roberto Carlos scored 49 goals directly from free kicks throughout his career.

So, it’s not unfair to say that the ex-Real Madrid and Inter Milan left-back – one of Brazil’s greatest-ever footballers – knows a thing or two about converting from far out. That’s why it comes as a surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo was snubbed from his selection.

Carlos Named his Top 3 Free-Kick Takers of All Time

The affectionally monikered 'Bullet Man' snubbed Ronaldo and Messi

A dead ball specialist, Carlos – who was nicknamed ‘Bullet Man’ in the Spanish capital thanks to his penchant for long-range free-kicks – is worth listening to, especially given that he racked up north of 800 appearances, for club and country, during his career.

He remains one of the most celebrated free-kick takers in the history of football, having recorded a conversion rate in La Liga of 4.5%, and he once revealed who, in his eyes, were the three best free-kick takers to ever take to the turf. Per GOAL, he said:

“At Madrid with Beckham and Zizou, Roni, Ronaldo would also come but he’s never scored one goal against me in his life so we got rid of him,” Carlos said while speaking at Betsafe Star Sixes 2017. “The top three are Beckham, Zidane and Diego Maradona.”

“I didn’t study any of them. But, of course, I saw Maradona take free-kicks, and Beckham he’s phenomenal at free-kicks and Zizou with his elegance in taking free-kicks.”

Napoli royalty Diego Maradona could do almost anything with a football – and that included being accurate from set-piece situations. An inspiration for Messi, the diminutive playmaker scored a total of 62 in his illustrious career.

Zinedine Zidane, too, had an uncanny knack for scoring free-kicks: the Frenchman, one of the greatest central midfielders since 1990, hit the 17-mark while playing for Real Madrid in the 2003/04 season. And that’s before we talk about David Beckham.

He scored many, of course, but the Manchester United legend’s free-kick against Greece to send England to the World Cup is a cut above the rest. You can watch it, in all its glory, below. It encapsulated his zero-to-hero story as Gary Bloom produced a moment of magic on commentary.

“Foul on Sheringham – free-kick. Will Beckham have another attempt at goal? We've played two-and-a-half minutes of stoppage time. England trail by two goals to one. Beckham could raise the roof here with a goal.”

Elsewhere, for any budding free-kick takers out there, 52-year-old Carlos revealed that the secret behind perfecting your craft is solely in training over and over again. Insisting that to become successful is all in the preparation, the Brazilian said:

“The secret is to train. Train every day, half an hour, 40 minutes, not too much or your legs will start to feel heavy, but you should train to kick the ball in all directions, and this requires training every day. I think that the strength comes down to your own, what you have to is train every day.”