Fans discover why Cristiano Ronaldo can’t score free kicks in a game.
In practice, Cristiano Ronaldo has been spotted emphatically converting free kicks. Fans believe they have discovered the reason why he finds it difficult to score goals during games, though.
The 38-year-old left Manchester United to join Al-Nassr in January, making the switch from the Premier League to the Saudi Pro League.
In his first seven competition appearances in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo netted eight goals. He has yet to score directly off a free kick, though.
Free kicks by Cristiano Ronaldo throughout his career.
Actuality, Ronaldo has scored more than 50 direct free kicks throughout his career, including notable goals against Portsmouth and Spain.
Ronaldo needed 43 attempts before scoring his first direct free-kick goal for Juventus, forcing the opposing goalkeeper to make just 11 saves.
Just one of those 25 free kicks rattled off the woodwork, while the other five missed the target or went wide or over.
Social media has videos of the Al-Nassr forward slamming home free throws during practice. Fans, however, had to wonder why he finds it difficult to do so during competitive matches.
One theory that has stood out among the others is that Cristiano is overly dependent on the knuckleball technique he learned when he was younger, which is much more difficult than attempting to curl the ball around the wall.
Fans Reaction
“During the match, he knuckles. The difficulty is that. According to a Twitter user, he typically succeeds or comes close when he curls.
Another person said, “It’s no accident that he curled the one free-kick he scored at Juventus.
According to a third, “He refuses for some reason to drop the knuckleball in games. Both in-game and during practice, his free kicks are significantly better when he curls them.”
Ronaldo chooses to use the curled technique during practice, as seen in the video above. Given his rather unimpressive record, it is somewhat surprising that he rarely displays it on the field, at least according to this video.
Whether he decides to switch back to the curled free kick in the future is up in the air, but it appears that he might be in good shape if he does.
