The world's best free-kick taker: a chubby Sunday League player in Holland!
We tracked down the Dutch kid whose amazing free-kicks have become a YouTube sensation. Have a look at his spectacular strikes and find out why he thinks a Beckham bender is better than a Ronaldo rocket
Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi, Xabi Alonso, Mauricio Pochettino… there are plenty of players who could claim to be the world's best at free-kicks.
But
none of these superstar names have anything on 19 year-old Bas van
Velzen from the Netherlands - an amateur player who likes a few beers.
Bas
does not look like a footballer. By his own admission, he's carrying a
bit of timber. But take a look at our video of his most unstoppable
efforts, and you'll soon agree his free-kicks are better than anything
you've seen on TV.
Bas has a seemingly simple
secret: he has mastered the art of the knuckleball. It's the
weird-looking method of striking a free-kick that makes it dip and
swerve unusually; the technique made famous by Cristiano Ronaldo.
"The funny thing is," he tell Row Zed, "when I was little, I had problems just hitting the ball correctly! I had to train all the time to get better. Ronaldo was the one who inspired me. I spent a lot of late nights watching YouTube videos of his free kicks, learning from his knuckleball technique. But I’d also try to Bend It Like Beckham!"
So whose technique is better?
"Oh, that's tough. I'd say the Ronaldo technique is more spectacular, but Beckham’s curlers are more effective. I always prefer a Ronaldo free-kick when he gets it right, but sometimes, a knuckle ball can go out of the stadium!"
So, the key question. How is that a bloke with technique and skill like this isn't a professional footballer?
"Well, I play amateur football with my friends - I play No10. It’s like your Sunday League football - we have a lot of beers after. If I lost a lot of weight, I could maybe be a professional one day. I guess I might have to stop drinking beer first…"
Still, even with those extra few pounds around the waistline, Bas has still come close to playing at a decent level. The problem is, he's quite picky about who he plays for.
"I support PEC Zwolle, my local team - we’re third in the table, so we are a bit like Southampton this season. Our big local rivals, Go Ahead Eagles, asked me to train with them, but I would never do that. Never!"
WANT TO HIT A KNUCKLEBALL FREE KICK AS WELL AS BAS? WE ASKED THE MAN HIMSELF HOW IT'S DONE…
You can see loads more of Bas on his official YouTube channel and his Facebook page. You might even learn a thing or two…
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