Free Kick Masters

The Free Kick Masters is a skills-based international association football (soccer) competition featuring some of the world’s top rated free kick takers competing against some of the world’s top rated goalkeepers in a direct free kick shootout to declare the world’s “Free Kick Master” and “Golden Goalkeeper”. [http://www.freekickmastersusa.com/aboutUs.asp] The competition has no affiliation with or ties to FIFA but is unique in the world of soccer as it is one of the only events that features star players involved in a direct competition against one and another.

History of the Event.

The first Free Kick Masters was first held in Marbella, Spain over a two-day period in December 2004. Developed by a team of individuals involved in international soccer, the Event challenged the skills of participants by testing their accuracy and ability to make successful free kicks from distances of 18 meters, 21 meters, and 25 meters. Participants were allowed to choose their approach: from the left, right, or center, and were awarded points based on the number of attempts required to score a goal. Points were awarded for successful goals with a maximum of three attempts from each distance. The current champion is Rafael Marquez. t: [http://www.freekickmasters.com/rules.php]

From 18 meters, 5 points were awarded for a score on the first attempt, 3 for a score on the second, and 2 on the third try.

From 21 meters, 7 points were awarded for a score on the first attempt, 4 for a score on the second, and 3 on the third try.

From 25 meters, 10 points were awarded for a score on the first attempt, 7 for a score on the second, and 5 if a player managed to score by the third try.

Goalpost hits were also awarded one point each.

At the end of the competition, SC Heerenveen player Ugur Yildirim emerged as a surprise standout with near perfection, having amassed 25 points en route to claiming the title. Shanghai specialist Shen Si was near perfection himself, amassing an impressive 20 Points. Benajamon Zarandona rounded out the top three competitors with 12 points.

=2004 Event Results [http://www.dutchfootball.net/online/index_fullnews.php?id=1104&category=1] =

1st: Ugur Yildirim (SC Heerenveen) - 25 points2nd: Shen Si (Shanghai Zhongyuan) - 20 points3rd: Benjamon Zarandona (Real Betis) - 12 points4th: Nastja Ceh (Club Brugge) - 10 points5th: Zinedine Zidane(Real Madrid) - 8 points6th: Hamilton Ricard (Apoel Nicosia) - 8 points7th: Orlando Engelaar (RC Genk) - 6 points8th: Constantin Galca (Almeria) - 1 point

A list of participants from the 2004 Event can be found at "http://www.freekickmasters.com/players.php"

Hiatus in 2005 and 2006

After the success of the Event in 2004, the organizers did not conduct an event in either 2005 or 2006. According to the organizers, a 2006 Event had been scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, California, but scheduling and entertainer conflicts led to its postponement.Fact|date=October 2007

Free Kick Master 2007

On April 26, 2007, at a joint news conference in Barcelona, Spain, the organizers of the Free Kick Masters announced that the competition would once again take place, and that Ronaldinho (Ronaldo de Assis Moreira) would be one of the primary participants. [http://www.freekickmastersusa.com/eBlog/default.asp?Display=8] [http://www.fcbarcelona.es/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada06-07/04/n070426100164.html]

In an interview at the conference, Ronaldinho downplayed his oft highly touted status as a player and free kick specialist stating: "There are some very good free kick takers, all those taking part will be good at it. I like David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Roberto Carlos da Silva, Rafael Marquez, Bernd Schneider, Deco... All of those players can shoot really well.” [http://www.fcbarcelona.es/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada06-07/04/n070426100164.html] [http://www.freekickmastersusa.com/Home.asp]

Free Kick Master 2007 was scheduled to take place on December 22, 2007 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, USA. [http://www.freekickmastersusa.com/Home.asp] The full list of competitors in the Event has yet to be announced, [http://www.freekickmastersusa.com/meetThePlayers.asp] but there is speculation that Rafael Márquez and Roberto Carlos, among others, will challenge Ronaldinho for the title. [http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/20070427/NOTICIA280420369.html]

Free Kick Masters 2008

As a result of an unforeseen scheduling anomaly involving both the Spanish Football League (LFP) and the Italian Football League (Lega Calcio), the producers of the Free Kick Masters event originally scheduled for December 22, 2007 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, have moved the competition to Saturday July 5, 2008 at the same stadium...

LFP scheduled the last matches of 2007 on December 22nd and 23rd, later in the month than has been their custom. A similar move by the Lega Calcio provided conflicts for many of the world’s top soccer stars who had previously agreed to participate in the Free Kick Masters 2007 event. As a result, July 5th, 2008 was selected as the new date. The move was supposed to allow the players involved to fulfill their professional duties with their respective clubs in order to participate.

With a format similar to the NBA’s Slam Dunk Challenge and MLB’s Home Run Derby, the Free Kick Masters is a skills-based international soccer competition. This free kick shootout is designed to declare the world’s “Free Kick Master” and “Golden Goalkeeper”. The last Free Kick Masters was a sold out event held in Marbella, Spain broadcast to over 30 countries with an estimated 110 million viewers.

The player crowned “Free Kick Master” will receive $1 million in prize money, and the “Golden Goalkeeper” title winner will receive $500,000.

Among the free kickers who appeared were Ronaldinho Gaucho, Rafael Marquez, Lionel Messi, and Martin Palermo. Last minute withdrawals by headliners such as Alessandro Del Piero, Juninho Pernambucano, Fernando Torres, Deco, and Lukas Podolski significantly reduced the celebrity of the lineup. The list of goalkeepers included Francesco Toldo, Kasey Keller, David James, Vojislav Dragovic, and Jorge Campos. Despite extensive promotion suggesting he would, Zinedine Zidane did not attend the event.

Other kickers included:

FREE KICKERS

Jared Borgetti

Robert Pirès

Dwayne De Rosario

Subait Khater

Javier Portillo

Eddie Lewis

Brad Davis

Segundo Castillo

Jozy Altidore
Shen Si

Sulley Ali Muntari

Julio Baptista

Romário de Souza Faria

The actual event ran into many problems, with large unplanned stoppages in play that resulted in many kickers not having a chance to participate. Changes in the scoring system, field conditions, and tournament format from the previous Free Kick Masters also drew fire, as many of the big named players were given more prominent placement in the event and allowed to bypass early rounds despite lower performance.

In the end, Rafael Marquez and David James were named the winners.