Free Kick Masters 2008
As a result of an unforeseen scheduling anomaly involving both the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) of Spain and the Lega Nazionale Professionisti of Italy, the producers of the Free Kick Masters event originally scheduled for 22 December 2007 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium was moved moved to Saturday 5 July 2008 at the same stadium.
The LFP scheduled the last matches of 2007 on 22 and 23 December, later in the month than has been their custom. A similar move by the Lega Nazionale Professionisti provided conflicts for many of the world’s top footballers who had previously agreed to participate in the Free Kick Masters 2007 event. As a result, 5 July 2008 was selected as the new date. The move was supposed to allow the players involved to fulfill their professional duties with their respective clubs in order to participate.
With a format similar to the National Basketball Association’s Slam Dunk Challenge and Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby, the Free Kick Masters is a skills-based international football competition. This free kick shootout is designed to declare the world’s “Free Kick Master” and “Golden Goalkeeper”. The last Free Kick Masters was a sold out event held in Marbella, Spain broadcast to over 30 countries with an estimated 110 million viewers.
The player crowned “Free Kick Master” will receive $1 million in prize money, and the “Golden Goalkeeper” title winner will receive $500,000.
The free kickers who appeared in 2008 included Ronaldinho (Milan), Rafael Márquez, Lionel Messi (both of Barcelona), and Martín Palermo (Boca Juniors). Last minute withdrawals by headliners such as Alessandro Del Piero, Juninho, Fernando Torres, Deco, and Lukas Podolski significantly reduced the celebrity of the lineup. The list of goalkeepers included Francesco Toldo (Internazionale), Kasey Keller (Fulham), David James (Portsmouth), Vojislav Dragović (free agent), and Jorge Campos (retired from professional football at the time).
Other kickers included:
- Jared Borgetti
- Robert Pires (Villarreal)
- Dwayne de Rosario (Houston Dynamo)
- Subait Khater
- Javier Portillo
- Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
- Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo)
- Segundo Castillo (Red Star Belgrade/Everton)
- Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)
- Shen Si
- Sulley Muntari (Internazionale)
- Julio Baptista (Roma)
- Romário
In the end, Rafael Márquez and David James were named the winners.
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