Jose Mourinho doesn't hand out praise to his players that often, let alone when an opposition star manages to embarrass his team.
But in April 2015, the Portuguese maanger's hard-shelled demeanour slipped for just a second after the full-time whistle of Chelsea's 2-1 against Stoke City. Eden Hazard and Loic Remy had handed the Blues all three points as they closed in on the Premier League title that season, but the headlines were elsewhere.
In the 44th minute, Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam picked the ball up halfway inside his own half before shooting from the edge of the centre circle. Spotting Thibaut Courtois off of his line - the Belgian 'keeper was stood on the edge of his box - Adam rifled a shot towards the Chelsea goal with a slight bit of swerve to draw the scores level in the game.
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It certainly shocked the Chelsea fans at the game, though the Scotsman admits that it was nice to finally earn success after previously attempting to score from the halfway line on other occasions.
"Definitely," Adam answers when FourFourTwo asks him if people still talk about the goal. "I’d tried it often enough without success, so for it to eventually come off, at Stamford Bridge, against one of the world’s finest goalkeepers in Thibaut Courtois, was something special.
"Jose Mourinho was the Chelsea manager at the time and I spoke to him after the game. He said, 'What a goal, Charlie – not even Messi and Ronaldo has scored one like that!' That was nice of him to say.
"My little boy is starting to understand football now, so I’ve been able to show him some of my goals and things like that, and I pinch myself occasionally. I was fortunate to have the career I had, with moments like that. It was a dream come true."
While he failed to win the Premier League Goal of the Season award, losing out to Arsenal's Jack Wilshere's brilliant volley against West Brom on the final day of the season, Adam's strike at Stamford Bridge has survived the test of time.
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