Roberto Carlos Free Kick Song (Football Music)
A song about the most famous free kick ever taken. On 3 June 1997 in Lyon, in the opening game of the Tournoi de France, Roberto Carlos stood over a free kick about 35 metres out. He struck it with the outside of his left foot, the ball flew so far wide that a ball boy ducked, and then it swung back around the wall, off the inside of the post and into the net. Fabien Barthez never moved. It is Cape Verdean funaná and coladeira: a driving ferrinho groove, warm guitar and a big sung hook that keeps asking the question everyone asked that night, how can that be possible? The second verse tells what came after, when physicists spent years explaining a shot that even the man who hit it could not.
Roberto Carlos Free Kick Song Lyrics
How can that be possible? How can that be possible? The way Roberto bent the ball. Yet somehow it was possible. 5 foot 6, but the left foot's heavy. Barthez in the goal, and the wall is ready. Roberto Carlos, walking way back. Whole crowd looking round like, where's he at? Roberto Carlos free kick. (Oh-wee-oh.) Going wide like a magic trick. Barthez didn't move a lick. Then it bent back in so quick. (Oh-wee-oh.) It was out by a mile, then it hit the net. That's the banana kick we won't ever forget. How can that be possible? How can that be possible? The way Roberto bent the ball. Yet somehow it was possible. In 2010 a paper tried to work it out. Spinning ball spiral, that's what it was about. Carlos said himself he still don't know how he did it. 30 years on, the banana kick, and we still rewind it. Roberto Carlos free kick. (Oh-wee-oh.) Going wide like a magic trick. Barthez didn't move a lick. Then it bent back in so quick. (Oh-wee-oh.) It was out by a mile, then it hit the net. That's the banana kick we won't ever forget. How can that be possible? How can that be possible? The way Roberto bent the ball (yeah). Yet somehow it was possible. How can that be possible? How can that be possible? How can that be possible? How can that be possible? The way Roberto bent the ball (yeah). Yet somehow it was possible. (Oh.) Roberto Carlos free kick. Roberto Carlos free kick.
When did Roberto Carlos score his free kick against France?
On 3 June 1997, in the 21st minute of Brazil against France, the opening match of the Tournoi de France at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon. The tournament was a warm-up for the 1998 World Cup, and the match finished 1-1 after Marc Keller equalised for France.
How far out was Roberto Carlos's free kick?
About 35 metres. The distance is commonly given as 33.13 metres, and the physicists who later studied the shot described it as a 35-metre free kick.
Why did Roberto Carlos's free kick curve so much?
It was the Magnus effect on a spinning ball struck very hard from long range. A 2010 paper in the New Journal of Physics, "The Spinning Ball Spiral" by Guillaume Dupeux, Anne Le Goff, David Quéré and Christophe Clanet, showed that over a long enough distance the ball slows and its curve tightens into a spiral, which is why it bent back so late.
Why did Fabien Barthez not move?
The ball looked like it was going well wide, so Barthez stayed where he was. It swerved back, glanced the inside of the post and went in. A ball boy standing near the goal ducked as the shot came towards him.
What did Roberto Carlos say about the free kick?
He has said that to this day he does not know how he did it, and called it a beautiful goal.
Why is it called the banana kick?
Banana kick, or banana shot, is the name for a shot that curves in the air like the shape of a banana. Roberto Carlos's goal against France is the best-known example.
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