Cristiano Ronaldo has scored many famous goals.
Undoubtedly, though, one of his most celebrated strikes came 15 years ago, on January 30, 2008.
On a winter evening at Old Trafford, Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth rocked up in fine form on the road, having won seven of their 12 away games in the Premier League.
Yet Ronaldo, in the midst of a 31-goal season in the top tier, was the difference.
Having put Manchester United ahead in the 10th minute, Ronaldo stepped up, just under 30 yards out from goal, three minutes later.
His free-kick, taken in what would become his trademark style, went up, over the wall and swerved remarkably into the right-hand corner. David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper, had no chance.
That goal is often thought of as the typical Ronaldo free-kick. Power, panache and pinpoint accuracy.
But is Ronaldo actually as good as a free-kick taker as that goal might suggest? Using Opta data, Stats Perform has taken a look.
Quantity, not quality?
Since that goal against Portsmouth up until the day his second spell at United ended (November 23, 2022), Ronaldo had more shots from direct free-kicks than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.
Of the 645 shots Ronaldo had, 41 resulted in a goal. That is from 700 club games, across stints at United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
On the face of it, that goal tally does not stand out as particularly impressive, at least given the fact that Ronaldo netted 619 times in total.
Yet he is behind only Lionel Messi (who else?) when it comes to goals from direct free-kicks, with the Barcelona great scoring on 51 occasions from such situations.
That gives Messi an 8.1 per cent conversion rate from free-kicks in that timeframe, in contrast to Ronaldo's 6.3 per cent.
Naturally, given their status in the game, Ronaldo and Messi will almost always pull rank when it comes to set-pieces, especially at a free-kick in a dangerous position.
Miralem Pjanic, who ranks third for direct free-kick goals and was a club-mate of both players at Barca and Juve respectively, boasts better conversion rate than either (nine per cent).
Neymar's 13 goals from 147 attempts gives him an 8.8 per cent success rate, while James Ward-Prowse's 12 per cent (15 from 125, though this figure of course does not account for his strike against Everton earlier in January) is close to double what Ronaldo managed.
Indeed, when ranked against players from Europe's big five leagues that scored 10 or more direct free-kicks between January 31, 2008 and November 23, 2022, only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dani Parejo had lower conversion rates than Ronaldo.
Club by club
So, having established that Ronaldo's free-kick finishing was somewhat erratic following that stunner against Portsmouth, let's check on how he stacked up at each club.
Across his career in Europe's top five leagues, Ronaldo netted 48 free-kicks in all competitions, from 782 shots (6.1 per cent).
Thirteen of those goals came at United, with five each in his final two seasons of his first spell at the club.
Indeed, Ronaldo's peak when it came to free-kicks was definitely between the 2007-08 season and the 2013-14 campaign, when he scored 35 times from that type of dead-ball situation.
His best single season tally was six, in the 2009-10 season – his first at Madrid.
From 2014-15 onwards he did not manage more than three free-kick goals during a season, while he scored only twice from 86 such attempts while at Juve, and managed no goals from four free-kicks in his second stint at United.
One of the greats?
As well as his effort against Portsmouth, Ronaldo has many other memorable free-kicks in the bank.
His stunning, 40-yard strike against Arsenal in the 2009 Champions League semi-final; a mesmerising hit from even further out in a Madrid derby in 2012; and who can forget that spellbinding, hat-trick sealing effort that secured a last-gasp draw for Portugal against Spain in a 3-3 thriller at the 2018 World Cup.
Ronaldo might have gone off the boil from dead balls since the halcyon days either side of his move from Manchester to Madrid, yet there's no doubting that when he hits them true, there's not much any goalkeeper can do.
While he may not go down as one of the greatest free-kick takers in history statistically, he has definitely been a scorer of some great free-kicks down the years.
And who knows, maybe there'll be more to come in Saudi Arabia.
Martinez sends warning to Tuchel over possible Barry appointment
Roberto Martinez has told Thomas Tuchel that Anthony Barry will remain part of Portugal's coaching staff even if he swaps Chelsea for Bayern Munich.
Tuchel revealed at Saturday's unveiling as Bayern's new head coach that he is hoping to add Barry, who he worked with at Chelsea, as one of his assistants.
Highly regarded Barry has also spent the past year working alongside Martinez at international level, first with the Belgium national side and now Portugal.
And regardless of whether the 36-year-old stays at Stamford Bridge or joins Tuchel in Germany, Martinez expects him to remain as part of his own coaching set-up.
"I've been with Anthony for many years. What happens in international football has nothing to do with club football," Martinez said. "If there's a change, it'll be from club to club."
Martinez's tenure as Portugal boss got off to a positive start with a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in Thursday's opening Euro 2024 qualifying fixture.
Portugal fielded a strong line-up for that game that included Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice on the day he became the most-capped player in men's international football.
Bernardo Silva was also on the scoresheet, but he has warned his team-mates not to take next Group J opponents Luxembourg lightly, even if they are ranked 92nd in the world.
"The truth is we don't know what to expect because teams can change depending on what they see in the games we've been playing and they can adapt to our game," Silva said.
"We expect a difficult game. The last time we came here we went through a lot of difficulties. The team has improved a lot. If I'm not mistaken, they haven't lost in seven games.
"We know that the game can be difficult at times. We have to fight against that, dominate the game and create opportunities to score goals and win."
Martinez is still getting to grips with his squad, having only replaced Fernando Santos two months ago, and he suggested changes will be made against Luxembourg.
"It's very important to have fresh people," he said at his pre-match press conference. "Three days after the game with Liechtenstein, it's important that everyone is physically well.
"We've been together for three days. I've been delighted with the level of unity, ambition and commitment I've seen. The quality of the squad is exceptional.
"We're just at the beginning of the journey; we have to grow together. But it's always easier when you win. Our last win was important from that point of view."
Balogun keeping all options open after starring on loan at Reims
Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun is keeping all options open with regards to his future after starring on loan at Reims.
Balogun has scored 18 goals in 29 appearances for the French side, making him the highest-scoring player aged 21 or under across Europe's top five leagues this season.
The Arsenal academy product has made just two Premier League appearances for his parent club, who already have strikers Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah on their books.
He still has two years to run on his contract at Emirates Stadium, but Balogun is unsure where he will be playing his football in the 2023-24 campaign.
"Contractually I have to go back. The loan was for one year so that was always the agreement," he told Ligue 1's website. "I'm not sure what's going to happen in the future.
"A lot could happen in football, a lot could change, and it just depends on the conversations we have between me and the club in the summer, and we'll see what happens."
Balogun has 17 goals in Ligue 1 this season and is the only player to have scored against Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Lens, Monaco and Rennes, who make up the top five.
Asked if he would be interested in staying on at Reims for another year, Balogun said: "Yeah. I mean there's no door that's closed.
"Of course I have had a good year here and to a lot of people it makes sense for me to come back here. I don't know what the future will bring.
"But I would definitely advise young players to come out here. It's a really, really tough league, a league that will help you to improve.
"You get to play in crazy atmospheres. If you're ready to take yourself out of your comfort zone, I would advise any young player, I would advise any young player to come here."
PSG ultras petition for Al-Khelaifi meeting and slam 'flashy signings' policy
A collective of Paris Saint-Germain 'ultras' made a fresh request on Saturday to meet with club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, while complaining about the "compulsive purchase of flashy names" and demanding a return of the team's famous Hechter shirt design.
In a press statement, the Collectif Ultras Paris complained the club have put marketing above sporting priorities, and warned the churn of personnel on and off the pitch was bringing the same results each season.
Some would argue PSG have never had it so good, with their success during the Qatar Sports Investments era – since 2011 – far exceeding anything previously achieved. They have won eight of the last 10 Ligue 1 titles, having only been champions twice before, while in 2020 they reached the Champions League final.
It is not winning over the ultras, however, with the club's most hardcore supporters insistent the club have underperformed.
An 11th Ligue 1 title this year would make PSG the most successful team in the competition's history, as they currently share the record of 10 with Saint-Etienne.
The ultras said in their statement: "Seasons pass and look the same. Players, coaches and sports directors follow one another and the same causes produce the same effects. Once again, our club has not lived up to its national and European objectives."
The group pointed to an early Coupe de France exit at the hands of fierce rivals Marseille, a "flat-lining" Champions League last-16 defeat to Bayern Munich, and a struggle to dominate in the domestic league.
PSG hold a seven-point lead over Marseille with 10 rounds of Ligue 1 games remaining.
The club have been able to attract major stars such as Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Marco Verratti, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the goal of becoming champions of Europe remaining frustratingly out of reach.
The ultras said: "However, we have decided to maintain our support in the stands for the time being, the players not intended to be the scapegoats of a poorly constructed squad, a sports policy without real direction, the compulsive purchase of flashy names without worrying about the balance of the team, and the policy of a club where marketing seems to have taken precedence over sport.
"We will therefore continue our support until the 11th title of champion of France, which is meant to be historic, is acquired to our club."
The group added: "We ask for the umpteenth time to meet quickly with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to explain to him orally the many problems that we have identified in and around the club, sporting and non-sporting, for many years."
They want to raise a ticketing issue that the group says favours "tourists and other VIPs", and are up in arms about PSG abandoning the shirt style pioneered by fashion designer Daniel Hechter, who had a stint as club president in the 1970s.
That home shirt design featured a thick red strip, with thin white lines at either side, down the middle of a largely dark blue shirt.
This season it has been inverted, with a thick white strip and thin red lines, and the fans are revolting, also calling for PSG to stay at the Parc des Princes amid concerns about a possible move to the Stade de France.
"We want profound changes and guarantees concerning the permanent return of the Hechter jersey," the ultras said.
They added: "Our love of the club is limitless, not our patience."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
