A Football Report

Andoni Iraola’s golazo that could have been

Athletic Bilbao and Marcelo Bielsa have given Manchester United yet another lesson in how to play vibrant, attacking, entertaining football. They defeated United for the second time in a row, this time 2-1 at home at the San Mamés (5-3 on aggregate). While Llorente and De Marcos scored for Athletic this time around, perhaps the best move of the match was Andoni Iraola’s dribbling into the Man Utd box. It could have been a golazo. It should have been. Regardless, what a performance by the Basque as they head into the Europa League quarterfinals.

Henri Lansbury’s Wonderstrike for the England U21s

England’s U21s surprisingly demolished the Belgium U21s in an Under-21 European Championship qualifier on a day when games such as England vs. Holland, France vs. Germany, and Italy vs. the United States stood in the limelight. However, it was Henri Lansbury, the Arsenal youngster currently having a fantastic loan spell at West Ham, who decided to supply the golazo of the day from international fixtures. From 40 yards out, Lansbury put his head down, took a swing, a snuck his shot into the right corner of the Belgian goal. As unbelievable as it may seem, Lansbury claims that the goal was intentional. What do you think?

50 Very Sensible Goals

What’s a “sensible” goal you ask? Well, you’ll have to ask Sweden’s Marcus Walkin, the creator of this video, but after watching these 50 I’m leaning towards nonsensical as my adjective to describe what’s featured on this list. Maybe Marcus is being modest. When I came across this I thought it would be merely another amazing goals list of the same, repetitive rotation, but this is actually a pretty, pretty good point of reference.

Anyone who starts with George Best’s NASL stunner in ‘81 has my vote of confidence. Which is the best strike in your book?

Shunsuke Nakamura’s still got it.

Oh yes he does. Though he’s fallen off of our radar a bit since moving to the J.League and playing for the Yokohama F. Marinos, Shunsuke Nakamura couldn’t help but show us that he still is one of the best freekick takers in the game. Of course, the circumstances were a little strange, but the class is undeniable. Kicking a ball through a window of a moving bus on Japanese TV. That’s about equal to a Champions League curling 25 yard freekick in our book.

Cheekiness was the catalyst throughout this past week in assists. Marco Streller, Pedro, Jack Wilshere, Luis Suarez, and Lee Chung-Yung (with the backheel to Kevin Davies) got in on the highlight reel with their audacious flicks and tricks. Look at all these young’ins just embarrassing their elders, it’s a beautiful thing.

(Source: cheekychip)

Not a bad way to score your first La Liga goal Di Maria! The Argentinian winger opened the scoring last night in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad. Pure class!

(Source: cheekychip)