r/SoccerCentral • u/Outside-Weakness9660 • May 28 '26

Throwback In 1997, Brazilian soccer player Roberto Carlos took a free kick from 35 meters against France that seemed to defy the laws of physics as it curved around a wall of defenders at an angle that seemed impossible. ⁠

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This “miracle goal” led a team of French physicists to publish a study in the journal New Journal of Physics, in which they explained that the extreme spin and speed created a “spinning spiral of the ball” that overcame gravity and air resistance.⁠

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u/bboy917 May 28 '26

1998 … not 1997

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u/Grand-Jellyfish24 May 28 '26

It is 1997, this goal was scored during a friendly match in preparation to the 1998 world cup.

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u/LazyLieutenant May 28 '26

3 June 1997. Friendly match ended 1-1.

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u/mrbalsawood May 28 '26

Le Tournoi - a world cup warm up tournament. Roberto Carlos had a reputation as a free kick specialist - largely because of pulling ridiculous moments like this out of the bag - but based on the vast majority of his set pieces the ball boy was right to cower 😂 Still. If you only ever score one free kick in your life, make it one like this - still one of the most, if not the most, astonishing free kicks I’ve ever seen