So good he needed scientists to explain his goals

It would be easy to dedicate an entire article to the free-kick Roberto Carlos scored past Fabien Barthez at Le Tournoi in 1997.

I have, after all, written in the past about career-defining goals from the likes of George Weah and Maxi Rodríguez – but enough people have already done that on Roberto Carlos’ wondergoal and done it well.

And besides, Roberto Carlos deserves better than to be reduced to a single strike in the only tournament England fans under the age of 30 care to recognise.

The Brazilian had a very accomplished career, winning the World Cup once and the Champions League three times, and – arguably just as importantly – he could kick a football really, really, really hard.

When you were playing jumpers-for-goalposts football in the park, the guy with the hardest shot was both a blessing and a curse for the game.

You wanted him on your team, sure, but that was at least in part so you wouldn’t have to run what felt like several miles to collect the ball after he connected sweetly to send the ball between the posts and way over the horizon.

By all sensible applications of logic, the appeal of these shots shouldn’t convert to a game where, in case you hadn’t noticed, they use nets to stop this exact thing from happening, not to mention having a near-endless supply of extra balls.

So how can someone like Roberto Carlos get us out of our seats like almost no one else when he steps up and blasts the ball goalward as if he’s starting a pinball game, as with this World Cup bullet against China in 2002?

It’s as telegraphed as a World Cup goal can realistically be: Rivaldo and Ronaldinho part, as if worried their mere proximity to their team-mate could leave them at risk of catching an aftershock, and Jiang Jin in the China goal knows where it’s going but can do no more than simply dive near the ball.

There are few foregone conclusions in football, but this feels like one of them. Yet that only seems to add to the excitement of seeing it come off.

🚀 Absolutely no stopping that! Roberto Carlos blasted in this free-kick for #Brazil against #China as they won 4-0 in the @FIFAWorldCup #OnThisDay in 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ 👏 pic.twitter.com/q3SUmQ4vxy

— Football On This Day (@footieonthisday) June 8, 2018

There’s an argument that our love for this kind of goal comes from the same part of our brain that appreciates a knockout in boxing or MMA.

Even in the most one-sided fight, when we’re almost certain the decisive…