#FreeKick

MIDFIELDER Oriol Romeu believes James Ward-Prowse’s “given talent” backed up by his work-rate, gave him the claim to be one of the world’s best free-kick takers. The Saints skipper struck his 14th direct free-kick goal in the Premier League for Saints, back at Brighton in April. It took Ward-Prowse four short of David Beckham’s all-time record, standing at 18. The likes of bosses Thomas Frank and Pep Guardiola have hailed the Saints star’s dead-ball acumen, with Romeu also praising the ability and application of the 27-year-old. Speaking about Ward-Prowse’s free-kicks on The Big Interview with Graham Hunter podcast, Romeu said: "He’s crazy. The free-kicks around the box are always a goal chance but also corner kicks, side-kicks, the crosses are always dangerous. “I’m thinking we should score more goals with the balls that are flying in but also you see in training when he has a shot it goals three centimetres out of the top corner "The normal person like me or someone else, the shot goes five metres about the fence, the flight of the ball, his contact, it’s always so clean and perfect - he rarely changes. “He is very accurate and very clean on the contact that’s what makes him so successful.” He added: “There’s two things there, one, he’s got a given talent, then on the practice side, he does practice. “Every week you see him practicing free-kicks but he loves doing it, it’s a bit of both." Ward-Prowse could add to his 10 senior England caps when the Three Lions take on Hungary in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday (5pm).