The Return of the King
Tag: Henry
Goals that history forgot…
As the football league season got underway at the KC Stadium on Friday night, it brought an end to pre-season, and has given purpose back to our lives. A great weekend in the football league was topped off with the Community shield and a chance for the big boys to warm us up for the Premier League campaign which begins next week. Normally this is quite a dull affair in which two teams poke around for a bit before the odd goal is scored, or we wait out for penalties.
However this year, the match took on a different twist with a Manchester derby and a chance for City to prove they’re not just the ‘noisy neighbours’ anymore and in fact the real deal.Mancini put out a relatively strong squad, bar the exclusion of Carlos Tevez and not-quite-match-fit Sergio Aguero, it is the strongest side he could have put out. Fergie on the other hand, gave youth a chance with Danny Welbeck given the chance to prove his England call up, and Chris Smalling given the chance to shine at full back. It was also a chance for David De Gea to show why he is the answer to Van Der Sar’s retirement, something he failed to do. In fact he was at fault for both City goals which saw them lead 2-0 at half time. But City were way too defensive, raising the same questions as last season about their ambition, and United ran out very deserved 3-2 winners. The relevance of all this to pre-seasom and goals? Well, although technically an official game, one can be forgiven for suggesting the Community Shield is still a season warm up. And we saw one of the great goals, which inspired me to put together a list of some of the best pre-season goals I have seen.
First up, the delightful team goal which gave this blog post inspiration, as Nani rounds off a clever move to pull United level on Sunday. Oh, and why not have it in Arabic…
So to my top 5 goals that history forgot, as usual its just my opinion based on what I’ve seen, any other entries are more than welcome, just let me know…
5) Questions may remain over Luka Modric’s future at White Hart Lane, but a bit more of this from Niko Kranjcar and Spurs fans may not miss the little magician…
4) Seems to be the norm for teams to fly across the pond and partake in a US tour, and the LA Galaxy fans were treated to this gem from the Portuguese winger as he danced around defenders and fired in from an acute angle…
3) A new Belgian striker through the doors at Chelsea, and Fernando Torres seems to have found some of his form during pre-season. However let’s not forget Didier Drogba and the beast he could be, with this stonker against AC a few years back…
2) The forgotten playmaker of Israel. Step forward Yossi Benayoun and this fine bit of ball juggling. A back heel finish as well, may have to amend my highlight reel from last week. Quality.
1) I’m not sure if it’s the fact Phillippe Senderos completed a pass that wasn’t over 10 yards that makes this goal great?! But then what follows is sublime, complete control a precision volley from 20 yards, the ball doesn’t even touch the floor. Enjoy…
A hommage to Super Mario
This week Mario Balotelli caused a fuss by trying (and failing) to score with an audacious back heel. Although having an argument with your manager isn’t best advised, I don’t get why everyone went mad. It was a friendly. It’s where you try things out. If he had scored then I’m sure people would have been saying how clever it was!
Anyway, I don’t really want to dwell on thhat, but I figured it could set up this week’s highlight reel quite well. So here are the top 5 backheel goals I have seen. I know I may have missed some obvious ones but nevertheless here’s my pick of the bunch. If you have any other suggestions of ones I have missed or ones you think should be considered, why not let me know!
5) Thierry Henry Vs Charlton
Jonathan Fortune probably thought he had done enough. Tight on Henry, back to goal, nowhere to turn, the only thing Henry could do to score would be… oh wait, he did it.
4) Djimi Traore Vs Liverpool?!
Bit of a cheeky one, but as own goals and back heels go, this is one of the best. Poor Djimi got his feet in one hell of a mess, performed a lovely pirouette, and sadly for the full back it’s probably what he’s most remembered for.
3) Gianfranco Zola Vs Norwich
The little wizard did some outstanding things whilst he was at Stamford Bridge, and this one’s up there. The jury’s still out on whether Graeme Le Saux whipped in a great cross or just duffed it, but what followed was a magic piece of improvisation from the pint-sized Italian. Reaction and execution – perfection.
2) Corridon Vs Porto
To be honest prior to seeing the goal on Champions League Weekly one night, I had no idea wh this guy was. And I’m not sure what he became. Rafa Van der Vaart scored a similar one in his Ajax days, but this one was from the edge of the area, and the audacity for him to perform a flying overhead kick gets him second spot in my book. Bien joue!
1) Matty Burrows Vs Portadown
In my book it deserved to win the Puskas Award last year for goal of the year. Either way, amazing tekkers from Burrows scoring from a cross, with his back to goal, from 18 yards out. And to top it off it was the winner in the 92nd minute. Glentoran’s never had it so good.
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