Inspired by last nights' infamous free-kick fail by Germany against Algeria, where Thomas Muller appeared to deliberately fall over before running past the wall to receive a pass, we at Balls.ie have decided to round-up some of the best instances of free-kick routines done right, as well as a few more fails so poor Thomas doesn't feel too bad.
Lets start at the World Cup, where in 1994 Tomas Brolin smashed home a rocket after a carefully crafted training ground set-piece:
And of course we couldn't leave out this amazing effort from Irishman Liam Kelly for Reading's U-18s:
To Israel now where two Hapoel Ra'anana players pretended to fight before a third player lashed in a beauty:
You should have all seen this incredible footage from Japan where nearly the entire team get involved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVnCdMbhtV0
And the Germans did actually get this one right, albeit at lower league level:
Brentford took their time with this one but it was worth it:
And now onto the fails!
While this one didn't work out we admire the effort:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZce9wPbDYU
It's probably best not to forget the ball...:
Those of you who like a video of a guy getting a ball smashed flush in the face will love this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzaaT4mlIU
And here is Bendtner and Ozil being, well, really stupid.
Free kick routines. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but it's either you're a total genius or you're a complete muppet, there is no in-between.
