The Specialist: The long distance strike

It’s one of the most popular elements of football. The distance strike. Most spectacular. In the Dutch Eredivisie, Feyenoord player Diego Biseswar built quite a reputation in a short period of time.

The Dutch distance marksman ever…

The Legends
Puskas was probably one of the world’s best distance strikers, with his powerful left. The legend of the 50s and 60s earned his nickname Canoncito Pum (or Little Canon Boom… I know… I didn’t make this up…) to this speciality. No player scored so many goals from out of the box at the highest level. In Holland, PSV’s Willy van der Kuylen was the ultimate specialist, scoring many goals with his canon balls. He never got to demonstrate this in Oranje, thanks to his infamous rows with one Johan Cruyff from Amsterdam. The first Dutchie to claim world fame with distance strikes was Arie Haan, who scored two crackers at the WC1978, against reputable goalies like Dino Zoff and Sepp Maier, both from beyond 35 meters. In both instances, Haan shrewdly waited for a defender to cross the path of the shot, limiting the goalie’s vision.

The Ball
It’s remarkable how “new balls” always seem to further open up the possibilities of marksmen. In the same 1978 WC, the Tango Ball was introduced and one Melinho scored a cracker for Brazil against Italy. The defender hits the ball outside shoe, the ball seems to curve past the goal. At the last possible moment, the ball curves back and Zoff is defeated.

Biseswar makes it look easy…

The Effect-laden distance shot
Van der Kuylen, Puskas…they were straightshooters. From 1978 onwards, the new balls seemed to help the introduction of the effect laden shots. Melinho we mentioned, and in 1982 it’s Brazilian Eder who further perfected the technique. Roberto Carlos is another specialist in this area while Brazilian Juninho of Olympique Lyon made the falling shot famous. Instead of a curve to the left or right, Juninho is able to allow the ball to suddenly drop. Cristiano Ronaldo was paying attention and added that shot to his repertoire as well.

The Technique
Diego Biseswar has earned the moniker “specialist” this season. Is it a coincidence that the Feyenoord winger scored three goals from outside of the box? “No, not really. I’m known to be a dribbler, but I always try to take the opportunity to shoot when I can. I think I try four or five times per game. It’s a weapon, really. And when you’re good at something, it’s fun and sensible to give it a go.” Biseswar explains how a long distance strike is different from a long distance free kick. “The only thing that is similar, is that when you hit the ball you already know if it’s a good one. Doesn’t mean the goalie can’t stop it, but you know if it’s a contender. Other than that, a free kick ball lies still. Normally, a field goal is made with a ball that’s already in motion. Big difference! And a well hit ball doesn’t even hurt. Doesn’t take an effort. It’s not power you need, it’s technique.”

Juninho and Ronaldo’s abilities prove that. “They hit the ball at a certain way, they hit the ball low, from under almost, with the top side of the shoe. In replays, you don’t even see the ball spin, they hit it in the heart. That’s plain technique. Look at Del Pierro. A very skillful player, but doesn’t have tremendous power. Still he scores lots of outside box goals.”

“I know that Sneijder started to train with Ronald Koeman at Ajax on his kicking and he made enormous progress. But when he started to try and copy Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo it didn’t work for him. You have to find your own style.”

Ronald Koeman taught Sneijder – and others – about their stance. Where to put the non-kicking foot. The through-swing of the shooting leg. The arms. The position of the body. Some players hit the ball 100% with the front foot. Others use the outside a bit to create more effect. And then there’s the freaks. Roberto Carlos, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham…they use the air-tube for instance. A well known story in the days when Wesley Sneijder played at Ajax. “Koeman taught me how to kick a ball even harder. We started to copy techniques other players used. Like the airtube kick and hitting the ball a bit lower. I remember crashing with my toes into the pitch. It didn’t work for me. I think I can do it, skillwise, but it’s just not my way of doing it.”

Holland always had their distance marksmen. In the 1970s there were afore mentioned Willy van der Kuylen, Theo de Jong, Gerrie Muhren, Ruud Krol, Arie Haan… In the 1980s Jan van Deinsen, Kees Kist, Ronald Koeman, Ruud Gullit later on joined by Wim Jonk. But there’s quite some differences. Ronald Koeman was the power hitter. Lots of juice, but relatively low in hit-the-target-ratio, while Wim Jonk was more of a refrained precision hitter, never too hard, always in control…

Training
Biseswar: “I am convinced the long distance strike can be trained. Look at the Brazilians. Is it a coincidence that players like Pele, Rivelinho, Eder, Falcao, Juninho and now Alex can hit a ball like that? But, you have to do it yourself. Group training or something won’t work with this. You have to find your own technique, basically. And then there’s luck… Normally, a goalie should be able to stop a ball from 30 meters or more. So, you need to have some luck with regards to his vision, him being wrong footed, maybe. Or him assessing that the ball will go past the goal. Against Utrecht, there was only one way I could score that goal and it worked. Sometimes you just aim for the general direction of the goal and you basically pray…hahahahaaa….”

Nelinho and his beauty…