In an interview with FIFA, Roberto Carlos reveals the most difficult player to score
Former player Roberto Carlos was known worldwide for all his attributes when he attacked. Whether for his bombs from outside the area, assists and fouls, it is easy to forget that his position was primarily that of a defender. Roberto Carlos was one of the greatest wingers in the history of football, with an enviable curriculum from titles for clubs and teams, to individual awards such as being the greatest scorer among defenders in the history of the Champions League.
However, despite being so well known for his attacking actions, Roberto Carlos was a great scorer, having been marked at one time as a very violent player. Even though he is a short player, he never had any difficulties to score bigger players, because he was always very strong and disputed a lot from shoulder to shoulder. Over the years he also began to abuse the carts. He was even expelled in the classic between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Corinthians and Palmeiras, Corinthians and Santos.
In an interview with FIFA's Instagram, Roberto Carlos went through the most common question asked to defenders: “Which player did you find most difficult to score?”. The former full-back faced several times players who were elected the best in the world, such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Zidane, Rivaldo, Figo, among others. The curious thing is that in addition to having faced all these players, who took turns awarding each other for 8 years, Roberto also played alongside each of them, either for the Brazilian team or for Real Madrid.
So, it can be said that he was the defender who knew these stars the most in the late 90s and early 2000s. And he replied like this: “I faced very complicated players like Eto'o, Finidi, Joaquín… but the most difficult to everyone was Luís Figo, and thankfully he came to play with me later. He was very good, a great player ", he revealed.
Figo started his professional career with Sporting Lisbon in 1989, staying there until he was signed by Barcelona in 1995, coincidentally the same year that Real Madrid signed Roberto Carlos. The two faced each other from 1995 to 2000 for “El Clásico” totaling 12 games, with advantage for the Portuguese, who won five times, drew three and lost 4 to Roberto.
The 1999/2000 season ends with Roberto Carlos' Real Madrid winning the second Champions League of the last 3 matches and with the election of Florentino Pérez, who had the promise of balancing the club's finances, in addition to the ambitious “Galácticos” project, which consisted of a weight hiring per season. In 2000, Real Madrid took the greatest idol of Barcelona at the time, Luís Figo. Spicing up the rivalry between the clubs.
This was one of the most controversial transfers in the history of football, as it took place between arch rivals and was an idol. Figo was always very badly received at Camp Nou while defending the colors of Real and years later explained his departure from the Catalan team: “It was an important and difficult decision, because I left a city that gave me a lot and where I was doing well. However, when you don't feel you are recognized for what you are doing, if you have a proposal from another club, you think about it ”, said the Portuguese in a live with former player Cannavaro.
Figo and Roberto Carlos worked together until 2005 having won a Championships in 2002 over Bayer Leverkusen.