Why it could pay to assess the cost of free kicks

Cristiano Ronaldo is great at free kicks, right? Well, yes and no.
He is better than average but his strike-rate is still lower than you might think.

Ronaldo’s straight run-up and swirling, dipping shot is familiar to all of us. You can see the terror in defenders’ eyes as he prepares himself, rising up on his toes and inhaling deeply. They fear the worst. But how often does the ball hit the net?

Over the last ten seasons with Real Madrid and Manchester United, Ronaldo scored 28 goals from 401 free kicks. That was one goal from every 14 attempts.