Tribute to the GOALKEEPER that scored more free kick goals than Ronaldo and Messi.

A few days ago, I stumbled on a list of football's deadliest free kick takers compiled by BR Football. Nothing so elaborate, just a roll call of ten of the very best. In my head, I was more interested in two things; who is at the top and where lie both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the list.


At the top off course was Brazilian Juninho notching 77 dead ball goals, one more than three time World Cup winner and Selecao great Pele (I would have sworn he wasn't such a specialist). My eyes scanned through the remaining 8 rolls so sure I would see my faves sandwiched in between those lines. I was wrong! In this "hallowed chamber", there are better "ballers".

Not that I doubted the other names that made the cut, I was only surprised that my "men" were only good for the second page of the list while a goalkeeper sits 9th scoring 61 times, 8 more than Ronaldo (53) and 9 more than Messi (52). A huge luxury for a non outfield player whose primary job is to keep off goals.

Legendary Regerio Ceni wasn't your regular man between the sticks. He's got eyes for goals; penalties and set pieces alike. He was capable of everything including the bend, dip, fade and power. As at the time he retired in 2015, Ceni scored a whooping 131 goals making him the highest scoring goalkeeper ever.

Born of Italian and German descents, the world owe much to his mother who went against the doctor's advice to abort him. The result of that "risky" disobedience is this generational "myth".






Ceni joined Sao Paolo at 17

A one club man and also a World Cup winner - as a backup goalkeeper - in 2002. He didn't become the first choice at Sao Paulo until a half-a-dozen years after he joined them aged 17. He turned out 1237 times for the o Tricolor on goalkeeping merit alone. This mammoth total of games makes him the Brazilian with most appearances for a single club, ahead of Santos' Pele.

From maning the sticks to becoming the world's deadliest set piece specialist.

It was ex Sao Paolo manager Muricy Ramalho that first noticed Ceni’s ability to shoot at goal in training and encouraged his number one to improve his free-kicks to a level where the risk of having the keeper 90 yards from goal was one worth taking. Ceni took to work and he was said to have made an estimated 15,000 practice kicks on the training ground. Ramalho finally designated the goalkeeper as his dead-ball specialist. If only he knew the monster he was creating.






He scored his first free kick goal 23 years ago

In 1997, the hymen was removed and Ceni had his first taste of free kick glory. Sao Paolo faced União São João in a Campeonato Paulista game and they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. Ceni stepped up. noticed that the União keeper was positioned behind the wall, a fair distance from the side of the goal that he should have been covering, so resolved to hit it low and hard around the six-man barrier.

The ball flew into the bottom corner on the goalkeeper’s side and the 24-year-old reacted with the sort of disbelieving delight that you would expect from a goalkeeper scoring a set-piece for the first time. Rogério only went on to score another two that season but there was no doubt about his ability to convert from dangerous dead-ball situations.

The goals kept coming likewise the silverwares. He was named the captain in 2001 and four years later he had his most productive goal return, scoring 21 times in the 2005 campaign. If he was playing in England, he would have finished as the second top scorer tied with Andy Johnson. Did you just say and he is a goalkeeper?






Out of his 131 goals, 70 are penalties

Becoming a world champion and beating Liverpool.

Later in the year, Sao Paolo travelled to Japan for the Club World Championship as the Copa Libertodores champions. In the semi-final, against Al-Ittihad, Ceni's deecisive goal from the spot earned his team a 3-2 win and a final against European champions Liverpool.




He was named tournament best player at 2005 FIFA Club World Cup

In the final, he would again show his heroics, this time, in between the sticks. He made a series of stunning saves, including a sensational stop from a Steven Gerrard free-kick that will live long in the memory of every São-Paulino. His heroics handed his team the title, prevailing 1-0 over the Merseysiders, and handed him the award for player of the tournament.

His legacy.

Between 2005 and 2007, Regerio scored 47 goals from penalties and free kicks, eventually hitting a century in March 2010. The next four years before his retirement were bedevilled with injuries and bad form and also a period of drought at Sao Paolo. Notwithstanding, he still reached 10 centuries of caps at the club in 2011.

November 2104, the seemingly inevitable happened when Ceni, not far from his 42nd birthday announced his retirement. The club, understandably though, were reluctant to let him go, and an extension until the end 0f 2015 was agreed. It gave time for more records to tumble. In March 2015, another strike from a free-kick raised his total from the dead ball outside the penalty area to 60. It passed the 59 of Marcelinho Carioca’s record. By the way, Carioca was an attacking player, and in case it seems even more unbelievable now, it’s worth restating that Ceni was a goalkeeper! To underscore the craziness of his goalscoring achievements, a few months later, he notched his 128th goal for São Paolo, placing him into the club’s top ten goal-scorers of all time – the top ten goal-scorers of all time.



He won 10 national titles with Sao Paolo.

Presently a coach at Fortaleza, who he led to the Série B title in 2018 and a maiden voyage in the top-flight. He's also had unsuccessful stints as Sao Paolo's manager and assistant coach of the Brazilian national team..

Both Messi and Ronaldo might move past him on the list, but until then, there goes the greatest goals scoring goal keeper. Isn't that an ironical?