Data Visualisation

Juan Roman Riquelme's career free-kicks, visualised

The attacking midfield maestro was capable of moments of genius, with many coming from dead ball situations

 
10:00am on Friday 25th December 2020
By
Marius Fischer

For football fans of a certain age, Juan Roman Riquelme was one of, if not their favourite player from the noughties.

After bursting on to the world scene after dominating for Boca against Real Madrid in the 2000 Intercontinental Cup, Riquelme eventually earned a move to Barcelona two years later.

It didn't work out at the Camp Nou, but his next move, to Villarreal, established him as one of the greats in the world at that time.

The Argentine's ability from dead balls was one of the more impressive factors of his game.

We've teamed up with football analyst Marius Fischer, known as @Gegenpressing91 on Twitter, who has worked his magic with Microsoft Excel to map out all Riquelme's scored free-kicks in his career.

Marius says:

"Juan Roman Riquelme was a classic number 10 – a player type that is slowly dying out due to the game getting more and more physical with a bigger focus on transition than ever before.

"Riquelme, who had his best spell in European football at Villarreal from 2003 – 2007 neither was the quickest nor the strongest player but his vision and technique were outstanding.

"He was one of these playmakers that made the rest of the team better. Every pass perfectly weighted and with a clear message.

"The same precision he also provided with his set-pieces. With his shooting technique, he put some much curve on the ball that he could score and assist from every angle."

Though his trophy haul from his time in Europe is lacking, he was hugely successful in Argentina and remains one of the most beloved Boca players in the club's history.

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