This one grows on you. It’s like a new album from a band that you’ve been listening to for 10 years. At first, this all seems remarkably familiar, maybe even too familiar. You start to worry that you might not actually like it and that you’re just a tedious old cynic now.
“Oh great, another goal from midfield! It’s probably just the keeper's fault. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”
But this lob from the halfway line has got some layers. It’s scored by 25-year-old Atletico Mineiro attacker Romulo Otero, a pint-sized Venezuelan international who’s been playing his club ball in Brazil since April 2017.
First, when he takes a look up to spot the keeper off his line, he’s still like 70 yards out. If he’s nearsighted, this goal is 100% impossible. So one layer here is that Otero is an outrageous footballer with perfect eyesight.
The next thing I’d like to point out is his positioning near the touch line. It’s Beckham-esque and generally a much rarer form of the vaunted goal from midfield.
Third, the accuracy, as demonstrated at the exact moment it grazes the fingertips of the leaping keeper and sails into the back of the net. The goalie has this covered except he doesn’t, because it’s an unstoppable piece of brilliance.
Finally, Otero celebrates with his teammates, including the now 33-year-old Robinho. Involving Robinho in any way makes a goal twice as good.
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