Juan Sebastian Veron is aware of a factor or two about thunderous long-range strikes, and the Argentine midfield legend watched Hakan Calhanoglu’s beautiful effort towards Roma with the appreciative eye of somebody who spent a profession doing precisely the identical factor.
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‘s highly effective drive to seal Inter’s victory over Roma was a objective of real high quality, exact, highly effective and deliberate in its execution. Whether or not goalkeeper Mile Svilar might have executed higher is debatable, however the Turkish worldwide gave him treasured little likelihood, selecting his spot and placing with conviction from nicely outdoors the penalty space.
For Veron, it was a second of uncommon craft in a contemporary sport that has largely deserted the artwork of taking pictures from distance.
“Calhanoglu did at the moment what was pretty widespread in my time,” Veron defined, through .
“Again then, midfielders, particularly box-to-box gamers, would all the time have a go after they reached 25 metres. Now the choice is to hold the ball inside. I liked taking pictures from distance, and I wasn’t unhealthy at it both.”
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What impressed Veron most was not merely the ability of the strike however the intelligence behind it.
“He had no opponent urgent him, so he had time to take intention and shoot,” he stated.
“He was intelligent sufficient to generate energy with out shedding his coordination, which is an error you typically see. What I notably favored was that he aimed for a selected a part of the objective and located it. So typically you see wild pictures that someway find yourself within the web. This was totally different. Properly executed.”
MILAN, ITALY – APRIL 05: Hakan Calhanoglu of Inter scores his crew’s second objective whereas beneath strain from Lorenzo Pellegrini of AS Roma in the course of the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and AS Roma at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on April 05, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Picture by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photographs)
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Veron: ‘Calhanoglu is a superb regista, dictates Inter tempo’
On why gamers try so few long-range efforts within the trendy sport, Veron was blunt.
“As a result of it requires braveness, the braveness to overlook, to disregard the criticism,” he stated. “And it requires appreciable method. The ball should be struck in a selected means, the leg should observe via freely however all the time beneath management.”
He proceeded to interrupt the talent down methodically: strike with the instep or outer instep fairly than the within of the foot, resolve earlier than placing whether or not to maintain it low or raise it, and crucially, learn the goalkeeper’s place fairly than taking pictures blind. “Solely via repetition in coaching do you make progress,” he added.
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On Calhanoglu’s broader worth to Inter, Veron was equally admiring.
“He has this high quality in his locker, however not solely this one. He is a superb deep-lying playmaker, he dictates the tempo, is aware of when to gradual issues down or velocity them up, and has an excellent lengthy move that opens defences and finds teammates in area. For Inter he is a gigantic asset.”
Requested to recall his personal best long-range effort, Veron wanted no time to assume.
“January 1997, I used to be at Sampdoria. A nook from Mihajlovic and I volleyed it simply inside the world, straight beneath the crossbar.”
He additionally remembered a surprising volley at San Siro towards Inter for Parma within the Coppa Italia, arrange by Asprilla and completed throughout objective with energy and precision.
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“Inter protested that there had been a foul and three of their gamers had been despatched off,” he recalled with a smile. “I had by no means seen that earlier than, I rating and three opponents get dismissed. And that season we received the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup.”