Free-kicks are probably being taken since the inception of the sport. They have surely evolved with time.
It is common these days to see two players waiting to take a free-kick where one player intends to kick the ball but runs away without touching it while the other player waiting behind him takes the kick. Apart from this, there has been a consistent lack of imagination from teams across the world when it came to free-kicks.
Japan has made a breakthrough in this regard. The high school team of East Fukuoka has shown innovation of a different level. It happened during the final of the high school tournament.
Will teams across the globe start applying this technique?
East Fukuoka was perhaps inspired by a recent “three walls” free-kick technique that was tried by Brentford manager Dean Smith in The Championship in England. Brentford was up against Birmingham City and that is when they tried to score a goal from set-piece by constructing something like a pyramid in front of the opposition players who had lined up their defence.
Unlike East Fukuoka, the Japanese high school team, Brentford’s free-kick taker Alan Judge had failed to convert as his shot went wide. Brentford lost to Birmingham City 2-1.
But East Fukuoka has successfully pulled it off. Congratulations to them!
