Many a great goal has come from a great free-kick: think David Platt vs Belgium, or Roberto Carlos vs France. Then thereâÂÂs... forget it, we could be here all day. Fewer classic strikes, however, come from absolutely terrible set-pieces â but playing for Philadelphia Union vs Chicago Fire in 2011, Carlos Ruiz did things the hard way.
Having weakly chipped a potentially dangerous free-kick straight onto a defenderâÂÂs head, Ruiz chased down the clearance and made amends by flicking the ball on before wellying it over the keeper and in â with his weaker peg. âÂÂIf I sound off-guard,â laughed one commentator, âÂÂItâÂÂs because it may be the first time IâÂÂve seen Ruiz shoot with his left foot!âÂÂ
The Guatemalan recalls â¨to FFT: âÂÂI was lucky the ball bounced back to me from the free-kick. My first thought was just to shoot as hard as I could â I thought if I stopped the â¨ball first, IâÂÂd hesitate too long."
âÂÂIt was a golazo in the â¨truest sense of the term,â he continues. âÂÂIt was impossible for any goalkeeper to save. Honestly, thatâÂÂs the type of goal you donâÂÂt plan; you â¨really donâÂÂt think about it before shooting. You just attempt the shot and wait â¨to see what happens.
âÂÂI had attempted that shot in practice several times, but you never think you can score a goal like that during a real game. Still, what I enjoy most about football is creating something out of nothing and in this case, I was able to do just that after a bad free-kick.
âÂÂSome people have called â¨it the goal of the decade. For me, itâÂÂs one of the best goals â¨I have ever scored.âÂÂ
Interview: Clemente Lisi. Illustration: German Aczel. From the June 2013 issue of FourFourTwo. Subscribe!
'I’d probably pick Cole Palmer alongside Bellingham and Rice in there at the moment. For me, Declan Rice is good enough to play that central midfield role on his own' Thomas Tuchel advised to DROP Manchester City star by England legend
Manchester United staff threatened with sacking for leaked information... in a leaked email
