Rivals found genius way to stop Roberto Carlos free-kicks after France screamer

Roberto Carlos scored the greatest free-kick in history against France for Brazil back in 1997 – but his later bids to repeat it were blocked by a genius piece of defending.

The iconic former Real Madrid and Inter Milan left-back defied physics from 40 yards by bending the ball around the outside of the wall and onto the inside of the post past a baffled Fabian Barthez – having utilised a huge run up of around eight meters.

However, in a tactic remembered by football commentator Rob Daly, rival teams began putting a player in the way of his lengthy run-up, but still 10 yards from the ball, in a bid to disrupt the technique.

One Twitter user said in response: "They did. I think he shortened it and still hit the thing like a missile."

Despite that tactic, Carlos went on to smash home 49 free kicks in total across his career, scoring a total of 117 goals to make him one of the most prolific defenders in history.

However, stats revealed in 2019 suggest that he wasn't as clinical from a set-piece situation as some modern counterparts, having operated at 4.2 per cent success.

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Lionel Messi on the other hand was at the time operating at 8.5% per cent, with Cristiano Ronaldo at 6.1%.

In a chat with GQ back in 2021, Carlos was asked whether he ever gets tired of being asked about his strike vs France.

"I never get tired of it," he replied

"It’s actually quite fun because, even now, it’s a goal that no one understands. I don’t understand it myself, so how is anyone else going to understand it?"

However, the 2002 World Cup winner also admitted that it isn't his favourite goal ever, pointing to a strike for Real Madrid against Tenerife the following year.

He said: "I really like the goal that I scored against Tenerife – that was a more difficult goal. I pretty much scored the goal from the byline, close to the corner flag."

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