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Lorient Forward Armand Laurienté Scores One Of The Greatest Free-Kicks Of All Time, It's Juninho-esque

Lorient Forward Armand Laurienté Scores One Of The Greatest Free-Kicks Of All Time, It's Juninho-esque

OH WOW.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Lorient forward Armand Laurienté has channeled his inner Juninho Pernambucano by scoring one of the all-time great free-kick goals. You don't believe me? Just take a look at this.

With just five minutes remaining in Sunday's Ligue 1 clash against Nantes, the highly-rated 22-year-old stepped up from around 40-yards out and smacked the ball as hard as he possibly could.

The ball dipped and swerved in mid-air before nestling into the back of the net.

Nantes goalkeeper Alban Lafont had no chance as Lauriente's teammates put their hands up in disbelief. WHAT A GOAL!


Lauriente's magnifique effort from range cancelled out Randal Kolo Muani's goal in the opening minutes to help Lorient pick up a point in their bid for Ligue 1 survival.

But it was that dipping free-kick from the French forward that will undoubtedly grab the headlines.

Lauriente has some way to good to match the great Juninho. In eight seasons playing for Ligue 1 side Lyon, Pernambucano netted a total of 100 goals, with 44 of those coming from direct free-kicks.

To put his record into further perspective, the Brazilian scored 77 free-kicks during a 20 year career, scoring for the likes of Vasco da Gama, Al-Gharafa and his hometown club Sport Club do Recife.

Juninho will no doubt go down in history as the best free-kick taker of his generation, scoring double the amount of Andrea Pirlo, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

I mean, just look at this compilation of his very best strikes. His technique and accuracy is something else.

The only person that even comes close to the Lyon legend is goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni, who netted 61 career free-kicks.

The former Sao Paulo man holds the record for the most direct free-kicks scored by a player with one club.

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/Canal Sport

Topics: Football, Goal, Ligue 1, Free-kick