I personally did not have the opportunity to watch much soccer this weekend but I did see highlights of two wonder goals. Actually, I saw one of the goals as it happened and uttered a “Holy Sh–!!!” with a slight jump off the couch as Chelsea’s central defender Alex struck a stunning late in the Arsenal match to seal the 2-0 victory. My wife glanced up to see what I was doing and just shook her head.
It was a 100 mph fastball with pinpoint placement in the upper right corner. There was nothing Arsenal’s keeper, Lukasz Fabianksi, could do to stop that shot.
AC Milan’s Andrea Pirlo had his own golazo against Parma on Saturday. It was the better of these two goals. Pirlo’s was more grace and cunning that it was power, but it had to have significant power nonetheless as it came from the run of play from 40 yards out. Plus, Pirlo’s strike had the added advantage of being the gamewinner in a 1-0 match.
It is difficult to describe the beauty of this goal that came from a slow build up by Milan. Pirlo merely collected a simple backpass from Clarence Seedorf, then calmly dribbled to the middle of the field. Seeing an opportunity, Pirlo unleashed his fury on the ball placed in the same upper right corner as Alex’s free kick. Parma’s keeper dove in vain as the ball found its home.
Almost as fun as the goal was Ronaldinho’s reaction to the goal. Ronnie, no stranger to the mind-blowing goals, seemed in a state of shock only able to grin and shake his right hand in the air. The meaning of the gesture is unclear to me, but when my mother lived in Italy she picked up this habit of shaking her hand that way and saying basta (enough) when she was somewhat incredulous about something that was going on. I have no idea if this is accurate but it seems fitting.
It was funny, two days ago I was watching random YouTube videos and I saw the Alex freekick from a while ago. And then it happens again yesterday, funny how these things work.
That Pirlo strike was pure quality. He’s wearing Concaves, right? Gotta be the shoes…/Air Jordan’d
@OM
Funny thing about his cleats, he’s one of the last players to still wear the Nike Tiempos. It’s basically just him Dinho and Joe LOLe
@ TNO: You have likely forgotten more about cleatery than I will ever know.
And, Danny Rose lives!/sorry about your Friars
@OM
I was much happier at this time last year when we finished with 99 losses. They teased me then walked out on me and f**ked my bestfriend on my parents bed.
I keep watching that Pirlo goal over and over; just a thing of beauty.
a proper keeper like Mark Schwarzer would’ve gotten to that Alex free kick
Alex’s was a great strike, but it was thoughtful of Song to turn aside for him. What a guy.
Though to be fair, I’m not sure I’d want to stand in front of that rocket either.
@Whiz
Or if the pixie would have taken a step to the left.
@ Ryan: Yeah, see that now; Song turns right away from it and if he had not, looks like he would have been teeth out of his nose.
*blowing his teeth out of his nose* Geez
I see your long range bombs and raise you these sick stepovers from Estudiantes v. San Lorenzo this weekend.
I’m pretty sure song thought the ball was going to keep going straight into Fabi’s hands… but guess not. but excuses…excuses…
@ben: ok, how big is the goal scorer? 5’3″? he didn’t even come up to the armpit on the one guy who was celebrating with him. also, i am amused by his need to fix his hair after his teammates were celebrating with him.
@all – nevermind song turning – I would have – how was there not someone behind malouda in the wall? Because guys never break off a wall on a free kick to create an opening.
@TFA: that’s Gastón “La Gata” (again with the nicknames) Fernandez, and he’s 5’7″. That was also his first goal in ages. He’s one of the many midget boy wonder types (eg. Saviola) from Argentina who don’t always deliver on the hype that builds up around them when they’re teenagers.
@ whiz: You’re right; even if Flappy puts a hand to that, Malouda’s there for the uncontested rebound; Arsene might need to have the kids work on that during the Interlull.
What’s sick about the Alex goal is the swerve he put on it.
I actually think my favorite part of that Pirlo goal was ‘dinho’s reaction to it.
Simple question for people who play(ed): Were you not trained to have someone stand directly behind anyone your opponent puts in the wall for instances just as this? Not that I would want to get in front of that shot, but come the f**k on. Fabianski had a decent game this moment aside, not that he could save the shot itself. Learn how to direct a wall, son.
Shane: Yes. Always. And hit the guy int he kidneys, step on his heel, do whatever to get him to move early. to let him stand there and create a whole in the wall is bush league.
Having said that, that’s a re-diculous strike.
Long day. “in the” and “hole”. in the hole. What?
@berg: I was always of the twist-the-shorts nature. Nothing like squeezing the bits off an opponent to let him know that he’s in your space.
Also, Song turning to goal as if to say, “Right here little ball.” The more I watch that goal the more pissed off I get from a coaching standpoint.
But yeah, damn good hit.
I favored the kidney shot. Doesn’t take too much power to get em to move. That or the achilles, which is a tad harder to conceal. Being tall however, I was always the ‘base’ of the wall, the guy over the post.
@han: Me too, in most cases (6’3″ ish), but I always found the shorts the best when on the inside. No physical damage left behind. I watched a teammate slice a guys calf once with his studs going for the achilles. Pretty easy to book when there’s blood left behind.