Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Football, Ligue 1, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi
Luke Davies
Former set-piece specialist Juninho Pernambucano did not name Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi as the best free-kick taker in the modern game.
Juninho, 50, played for five clubs during his two-decade-long playing career but is best known for his time at Ligue 1 side Lyon, where he plied his trade between 2001 and 2009.
And like most Brazilian players, he was a technically gifted footballer and could pick a pass from almost anywhere on the pitch.
But that is not all the former attacking midfielder was good at, as he mastered the art of taking free kicks.
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In all, he scored 77 free kicks during his 20-year career and even earned praise from former AC Milan, Juventus and Italy legend Andrea Pirlo, who was a top-class operator when it came to set-pieces.
"During his time at Lyon, that man made the ball do some quite extraordinary things," Pirlo wrote in his 2014 book.
"He'd lay it on the ground, twist his body into a few strange shapes, take his run-up and score.
"He never got it wrong. Never. I checked out his stats and realised it couldn't just be chance.
“He was like an orchestra conductor who'd been assembled upside down, with the baton held by his feet instead of his hands.
"He'd give you the thumbs up by raising his big toe - somebody at Ikea was having a good laugh the day they put him together."
But who does Juninho consider to be the best free-kick taker in modern football?
Most people think of Ronaldo’s iconic run-up or even James Ward-Prowse’s almost flawless ability to find the top corner.
But it was neither of the two players mentioned who were dubbed “incredible” by the Brazilian.
Juninho described former Roma and Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanić as the “best in the world” back in 2015.
"Mire has incredible quality,” Juninho told L’Equipe.
“He's maybe the best free-kick taker in the world today… no, I'm sure of it - he is the best.
“He's very efficient and, above all, consistent. That's the most difficult part. He has a lot of variation in his strikes. He's able to shoot in different ways depending on the distance.
"I said to him at the time that repetition of the action was the most important thing in order to become a great free-kick taker. It's tiring, but it's really the most important part."
Pjanic, 34, now plays for Russian Premier League outfit CSKA Moscow having left Sharjah in the UAE at the end of last season.
"Mire was always interested in my shooting technique on free kicks," he added.
“Unfortunately, we didn't rub shoulders with each other for very long because I left one year after he arrived from Metz in 2008.
"He always stayed with me after training for free-kick practice. We discussed things a lot."