British Destroyer Free Kick U-17, Inspired By Cristiano Ronaldo

JAKARTA - England U-17 had to surprisingly stop its steps in the round of 16 of the 2023 U-17 World Cup. The 1-2 defeat to Uzbekistan U-17 was unexpected.

The White Wolf, nicknamed Uzbekistan U-17, must thank their captain, Lazizbek Mirzaev, who scored the winner with a beautiful free-kick.

The free-kick goal not only secured tickets to the quarter-finals, but also changed the Three Lions instantly as if it were not a leading team at the 2023 U-17 World Cup.

There is no longer being held as one U-17 World Cup holder. England U-17 immediately panicked, collectivity decreased, and the game system fell apart.

"If it is permissible to appoint who the actor who destroyed England U-17," Mirzaev explained.

The midfielder, who only 17 years ago had a central role for Uzbekistan U-17 in midfield. Not only acting as a regulator and command center, Mirzaev is also tasked with reducing his opponent in midfield fights.

The spotlight now points to Mirzaev, especially about his free kick. Apparently, the Lokomotiv Tashkent player has his own story.

Apart from having qualified attributes as a midfielder, such as passing and vision to play, Mirzaev turned out to be training specifically for set-piece football kicks.

The free kick exercise was immediately inspired by his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. The superstar is known to have been famous for his free kick because he trained regularly after team training.

Likewise with Mirzaev. He really imitated what his idol was doing.

"Of course I am very proud and grateful to be the winner. The key to success (gol) is because we did a special freekick exercise. We have an assistant coach who specifically teaches how to score goals from freekicks and because of that practice I was able to score goals today," he said.

"Yes, I imitate Ronaldo. I often train him during training," he added.

Cristiano Ronaldo became an inspiration for the player who had made his professional debut in 2022. Ronaldo's presence in Mirzaev's life when he was seven years old changed his life path.

Just through the screen when Ronaldo appears for Portugal, enough to convince Mirzaev that football is his life.

No wonder, jersey number 7 stuck to Mirzaev's back while defending Uzbekistan U-17, the same as the flagship number of former Real Madrid star.

Not only that, the Tashkent-born player was also asked to be the captain of Uzbekistan U-17. A role that reminded Ronaldo while defending the Portugal national team.

Mirzaev's journey is still long, but his hard work following in Ronaldo's footsteps has shown sweet results. A lot of praise was addressed to him.

Uzbekistan's U-17 assistant coach, Anvar Rakhimov, did not hesitate to predict that Mirzaev would be like Ronaldo.

He is our super, hard-working, and captain. We can see him in championships like the English Premier League in the years to come. We have a lot of good players and Lazizbek is certainly one of them," said Rakimov on the FIFA website.

The goal of a free-kick curved from a distance of 20 meters buried England's U-17 dream to advance to the quarter-finals. Now, Mirzaev will lead his French counterparts U-17 in the top eight.

Mirzaev's key role is highly anticipated to return to surprise as the giant conquest of the 2023 U-17 World Cup.