Scientists finally figured it out. We know now how soccer player Roberto Carlos made a seemingly impossible kick in one of the greatest goals of all time.
It happened in 1997 in a game against France. The best way to understand this shot is to watch the video (direct link):
You probably want to watch that again. Like magic, the ball seems to wind through mid air as if it is on a roller coaster track. Athletes call this the “banana kick.” Many people thought the shot was a fluke. But French scientists—perhaps desperate to defend the honor of their homeland—wanted to find an explanation.
Thirteen years later, researchers finally have an answer. The Associated Press explained:
Many people thought the shot was a fluke, but researchers say it can all be explained by science.
“What happened that day was so special,” researcher David Quere told The Associated Press. “We are confronted with an unexpected law of physics, but it’s possible to see this again.”
Quere, a physicist at the ESPCI and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, and his colleagues have developed an
equation to explain the bizarre trajectory of the shot. Using a small pistol to fire bullets into water at the speed of 100 km/h — approximately the speed of Roberto Carlos’ shot — they discovered that the path of a sphere when it spins is actually a spiral.
Sometimes, you need to kick the ball in what appears to be the wrong direction. Sometimes, science can’t immediately explain why an approach will work. Failure is the secret to success. You often must do things in way that appears incorrect to find a way to win.