He must have a foot like a traction.
We have been treated quite well in the early stages of this World Cup. There has been intense drama, goalkeeping errors, hilarious commentating and best of all, some beautiful free-kicks.
Well, okay, there had only been two free-kicks before Sunday – from Cristiano Ronaldo and Aleksandr Golovin – but Ronaldo’s was so bloody good that really, it counts as a few.
Thankfully, both of those goals now have company after Serbia’s Aleksandar Kolarov rifled in an absolute stunner for his country against Costa Rica. Lining the ball up from an impressive 25 yards out, the Roma full-back swung an absolute beauty past Costa Rica’s goalkeeper Keylor Navas into the top corner.
And while Golovin’s free-kick on the tournament’s opening day was a touch flukey – the Saudi goalkeeper appeared to genuinely have hands made of soggy paper – this one really gave Navas absolutely no chance, constantly swinging away from him right into the area known commonly as the ‘postage stamp’.
The goal also represented a new record in this World Cup. It is the third direct free-kick scored already in this tournament, equalling the amount scored in the entirety of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Aleksandar Kolarov opens the scoring with a perfectly executed free kick in the 57th minute. #RTEsoccerhttps://t.co/OnWjRroBfs pic.twitter.com/JS6KBudaxK
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 17, 2018
