The Internet's Latest 'Top 10 Free Kick' Video Includes Ronaldinho, Beckham, Roberto Carlos

People on the Internet regularly upload their own Top 10 soccer goal compilations to YouTube. Here’s an offering uploaded this week by a user named Peradze. It’s a solid list, full of some of the usual candidates and a few unexpected great goals you don’t see all too often. (Commentary on the goals below is mine.)

10. Juninho (Lyon) vs. Bayern, 2003-04 Champions League: Sick goal, watch for Oliver Kahn diving face-first into the post.

9. Ronaldinho (Brazil) vs. England, 2002 World Cup quarterfinals: This goal still seems surreal, likely because it happened around 2 a.m. in America. For various reasons, England keeper David Seaman should be grateful social media didn’t exist back then.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) vs. Portsmouth, 2007-08: Hey look, it’s Wayne Rooney’s original hair!

7. David Beckham (England) vs. Greece, 2002 World Cup Qualifier: Harbor whatever opinions on Beckham you want, but this goal is incredibly dramatic. England would have missed the 2002 World Cup without it and it came in the 93rd minute. Arguably as good as it gets in terms of skill and impact. Also note the jubilation at St. James Park.

6. Pierre van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord) vs. SC Freiburg, 2001 UEFA Cup: A spectacular goal from an impossible angle from the man with the best soccer name of the early 2000s.

5. Roberto Carlos for Palmeiras, circa 1993?: Holy shit!

4. Oleksandr Aliyev (Ukraine) vs. Turkey, 2006 UEFA U-21 Championships: Bonus points for smacking it under the crossbar, along with great hair.

3. Mikael Nilsson (IFK Göteborg) vs. PSV, 1993 Champions League: You almost want to re-take Geometry 101 to calculate the bend on that one.

2. Alvaro Recoba (Inter Milan) …???: A total boomerang shot, but maybe a little overrated on this list. On significance alone Beckham and Ronaldinho’s are better.

1. Roberto Carlos (Brazil) vs. France, 1997 Tournoi de France: The best … and hard to dispute otherwise. How do you get that much curl on the ball with the outside of the foot? France keeper Fabian Barthez doesn’t even move when it’s kicked, a fact that remains amusing 17 after the fact.

My bonus free kick:

Yes, it’s only from MLS but Dwayne De Rosario’s amazing effort from 2004 deserves more plaudits. Wait for the final angle to see all the bend on it. Yes, that’s a young Max Bretos on the call.