There are several interesting aspects that surround Austria in the 1930s: its rise in world football, great stories, cultured and refined style of play, great players and their characteristics. Within that aforementioned agglomeration, S.K Rapid Wien revealed to the football world a truly amazing player for opposing goalkeepers. Franz Binder was his name.

Binder was an inside left and centre-forward with finishing-oriented characteristics. At a certain training session for the Austrian national team, it was reported that Binder had the best shot in all of Austria and one of the best in the world. Either with both foot, the shot came out with tremendous speed and surgical precision. He, moreover, was the main free-kick taker for S.K. Rapid — and it is exactly this feature that will be covered in this article. Of the many matches Binder scored direct free-kick goals, an article about it had to be raised. It is impressive how often this player scored this type of goals — mainly in 1938/39 —, a true specialist through shots that did not require so much finesse, but brute strength in the end. Whether up close or far away, from any angle, Binder would fire fearsome shots.

This is not a specifically statistical article, as I don't have confirmation of the rest of the goals which are to be found yet. Binder, however, according to  overall  career records, has scored  at least 75 direct free-kick in his career. He probably scored more than 90. The most famous of these matches was the 1941 Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft final, when Binder scored two direct free-kicks against Schalke 04, of Fritz Szepan. Furthermore, there are several other occasions when Binder scored two direct free-kick in the same match.

Franz Binder was, in fact, one of the best free-kick takers of all-time, maybe even the best of them all. Of course, there is no way to confirm this for now, as there are several great free-kick specialists from remote decades. However, Binder is among the best for sure.