Bangalore, June 5: This video shows the famous free-kick of Roberto Carlos, the former left-back of Brazil, against France in the four-nation Tournoi de France (Tournament of France) held in June 1997. The tournament was held as a warm-up to the FIFA World Cup held in France the next year.

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The free-kick of Carlos, who was popularly called The Bullet Man for his powerful free-kicks, took the entire French defence including goalkeeper Fabian Barthez by surprise as it took a curved route and landed inside the goal, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. The match finally ended 1-1.

The unique goal, which was described by many as a physics-defying goal, soon attracted attention of physicists and after studying the phenomenon closely, they concluded that it was no fluke. They explained that such a goal could be scored if the ball was kicked hard with a suitable spin and more importantly, if the kick was made sufficiently away from the target. [Read this report]

England won the championship after finishing at the top of the table with six points from three games. Brazil were the second best with five points. France and Italy finished third and fourth, respectively.

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