Video

In the beholder’s eye

By Kevin Steel ⋅ January 25, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Found this video very entertaining; The 30 Most Beautiful Football Goals (soccer) compiled by someone called Edward. In particular I like the way the number 1 goal is shown (spoiler ahead). It’s not the 1970 “Wonder goal” by Carlos Alberto, “for which he was recently awarded a trophy by football governing body Fifa for the most beautiful goal in World Cup history” though that does make this video list, clocking in at number 13. Rather, top ranked is a direct free kick from another Brazilian, another Carlos, Roberto Carlos, in a 1997 friendly match with France. We are shown three views here. In the first angle, from the side of the field at a distance, we fail to understand why Edward ranked this as number one after seeing 29 previous examples of magnificent ball handling. Then we are given a couple of rear views and we discover what makes it so special. The ball is booted at least three feet wide of the wall. You get the sense the players in that wall are thinking, “Whew, he really blew that!” But the ball travels in an enormous curve and manages to tag the inside of the goal post. The goalie is frozen. Thunderstruck–a perfect shot. As someone commented on this digg page–where I found the date of the goal and I trust it is right–it “almost defies physics.” I wouldn’t know about that, but no doubt it is a beautiful thing and I support Edward’s positioning it as numero uno in his list of beautiful goals.

btw, in a quick tour of digg.com I found a reference to this strange video on YouTube, from “The Adventures of Mark Twain” (1985), a claymation special for children. In the clip an angel named Satan appears, a very weird Satan. The animators have done an imaginatively good job of conveying despair, emptiness, and insignificance. The way it all recedes in the iris of the old man is a nice touch.