The Only Goal You Need to See This Weekend: Alain Traore Bends Free Kick (Video)

It's not every day that a footballer imitates Roberto Carlos. When it happens, though, might as well do it as brilliantly as Alain Traore.

Traore is a 23-year-old forward currently plying his trade for Lorient in France's Ligue 1. The Burkina Faso international channeled Carlos, the recently retired Brazilian full-back and legend, with a jaw-dropping free-kick goal on Sunday against Rennes.

The goal appears above. It's the Set Piece goal of the weekend, for obvious reasons (with apologies to Nottingham Forest's Simon Cox). Sit back and enjoy this one, because it's something special.

If you don't know of the Roberto Carlos goal mentioned above, do yourself a favor and watch it here. It's rightfully considered an all-time classic for the sheer skill it took and the outrageous distance the ball covered both laterally and in terms of actual on-pitch yardage.

Traore's goal isn't quite as brilliant. The free kick didn't cover quite as much distance, nor did the ball experience quite so psychedelic a bend. Still, though, Traore's goal was great, and it took loads of skill.

If you're wondering, Traore scored another goal in the match, which Lorient won 2-1. The victory kept Lorient undefeated on the season with 11 points, good for third place in the early Ligue 1 table.

Jonathan Pitroipa scored for Rennes, but the highlight of the match—besides the three red cards—was no doubt Traore's goal.

And for those wondering how Traore did it, it's called bending the ball with the outside of your foot. And yeah, there's a video for that.

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