Is Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick taking ability a myth? When was the last time the Real Madrid star scored a screamer for Portugal at a major tournament?
The three-time Ballon d'Or winner looked set for late heroics against Iceland at Euro 2016 on Tuesday when he was given the opportunity from the dead ball late on.
Statistics from Opta reveal that Ronaldo has taken 34 free-kicks (18 at the World Cup and 16 at the European Championship) and failed to convert any of them in 28 major tournament games.
Worryingly, only eight have even hit the target.
Of the remainder, 13 have been blocked and 13 have missed the target.
MOST DIRECT FREE-KICKS TAKEN AT MAJOR TOURNAMENTS (Since 1978, European players)
34 (scored 0) – Cristiano Ronaldo
27 (0) – Gheorghe Hagi
25 (2) – Michel Platini
22 (0) – Ronald Koeman
21 (2) – Zinedine Zidane
18 (0) – Wesley Sneijder
18 (0) – Francesco Totti
17 (2) – Hristo Stoichkov
17 (1) – Fernando Hierro
16 (1) – Sinisa Mihajlovic
MOST EFFICIENT DIRECT FREE-KICK TAKERS AT MAJOR TOURNAMENTS (Since 1978, European players)
20 per cent – Thomas Hassler
15.4 per cent – David Beckham
11.8 per cent – Hristo Stoichkov
9.5 per cent – Zinedine Zidane
8 per cent – Michel Platini
