Cristiano Ronaldo may have been a pioneer at free-kicks - but the former Manchester United attacker's conversion rate tells a different story
Cristiano Ronaldo is the man on free-kick duty for Portugal(Image credit: Getty Images)
Cristiano Ronaldo may go down in history as inventing a certain style of free-kick - the knuckleball - but statistics show that the superstar seldom manages to score them.
Indeed, recent data tells us that the 39-year-old is poor at free kicks. In fact, The Telegraph relays that Ronaldo has netted 52 direct free kicks for his five clubs during his 22-year career as a professional.
This works out at 2.36 every year - but this still does not tell the whole story. On the international stage at major tournaments, the former Manchester United winger has attempted 60 free-kicks and has scored just one of them.
Cristiano Ronaldo is much more proficient a free-kicks at club level (Image credit: Getty Images)
It came in Portugal’s opening group game in the 2018 Russia World Cup during a 3-3 draw with Spain.
Ronaldo is still being handed the ball proceeding a foul to his team-mates outside the box, but indeed data dispels the idea that he is any good at them, particularly when wearing Portugal colours.
The veteran was criticised for his penalty-taking ability in Portugal’s shoot-out victory over Slovenia on Monday night. The Portugal captain wasted a golden chance to win the game extra time during the Euro 2016 Round of 16 after being handed a spot-kick following a foul to Liverpool attacker Diogo Dalot.
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But his effort was thwarted by Jan Oblak, the Atletico Madrid shot-stopper. Ronaldo was seen in tears after missing the chance, but he managed to put away his penalty during the shootout and help his national team qualify for the quarterfinals.
Indeed, with his second opportunity, Ronaldo smashed the ball home into the bottom corner.
Instead of celebrating the goal, Ronaldo appeared to go over and apologise to Portugal fans inside the Frankfurt Arena.
Diogo Costa, the Portugal keeper, was the real hero of the night, however, saving three consecutive Slovenia penalties to secure progression to the next round.
Jacque Talbot is a freelance football journalist who predominantly specialises in transfer stories and exclusives. He began his career in 2016 covering the world-renowned Sandbach United, of North West Counties fame, before earning a spot on the sports desks of national papers, where he bounced between several outlets such as Sportbible, the Express, Mirror, and Daily Star. An NCTJ graduate of the News Associates who swapped investigative journalism in the Costa del Sol for football reporting in Northern England, he first wrote for FourFourTwo in December 2023.
