You don't see many 5'8" goalkeepers in soccer. You don't see many 44-year-olds anywhere but the tactical area. You definitely don't see 5'8", 44-year-old goalkeepers doing things like this:
We are, as the great philosopher put it, standing on the shoulders of giants. In Argentina there was a time when no footballer could hold a candle to Guillermo Stabile, who scored eight goals at the 1930 World Cup. But he was followed and surpassed by Luis Artime, a forward who ended his career with a strike rate of 0.96 goals per game for Argentina.
April's El Clásico was one of the best matches of the year, but my only complaint was that Isco didn’t come off the bench for Real Madrid. I’ll be the first to admit it, I was extremely late on the Isco train because of this reason — he's on the bench a lot.
The 25-year-old has never started more than 26 La Liga matches in a single season with Real Madrid. This year, he’s appeared as a substitute 11 times, and he’s on pace to total fewer league minutes than he ever has in a season with the club.
A horrid back-pass allowed Barcelona's Lionel Messi to sprint through on Osasuna’s goal in the 12th minute of Wednesday's La Liga encounter. As for the goal, I don’t even know. Messi’s first touch is with his head, he then juggles the ball to keep it elevated and then pops it over Salvatore Sirigu with his third touch.
It’s absurd.
Nine goals. Nine. Four goals for Inter, five for Fiorentina. I think it’s fair to say that no one expected that. Elsewhere, Juventus demolished Genoa with four goals and no reply. Expected. Lazio rumbled right over Palermo, going five-nil up in thirty minutes and finishing the game six to one. Expected. Napoli drew two apiece away at Sassuolo. Not that expected, to be honest, but not that shocking. But Fiorentina five, Inter four? That’s a result that makes you sit up and take notice.
The decision to describe a goal as a candidate for the Puskas Award is frequently abused. There can only be 10 nominees in a given year, so you should choose your moments to describe a goal as Puskas worthy very carefully.
I’m going to go ahead and play one of my Puskas cards for the year on this unbelievable solo effort from Colombian Juan David Valencia. It’s a great goal, and it’s a great goal with many different layers and subtleties — this goal could win an Oscar.