Another A-League season has been and gone. The toilet seat has been held aloft and the end of season awards have been handed out. Among them was, of course, the goal of the season, which this year was won by Erik Paartalu.
A great goal it was, but awards like this always create controversy. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, particularly when it comes to judging what makes a great goal.
TV loves the long range surface to air missile type of goal. You get the feeling Guardiola and Wenger wouldn’t be impressed with a goal unless there was a minimum of 12 passes leading up to it.
What makes a goal special can also involve more than just technique or the spectacle. The goals scored by Cahill and Holman against Serbia at the 2010 World Cup in Nelspruit probably won’t make a list of the best 100 goals of all-time, but they will forever live in my memory for the reaction they created in the stadium that night.
Our seats were at the right end to see the action (although Timmy ran to the other corner flag after he scored). Random men in the seats next to me were bear hugged. Noises were shouted in those two moments that will never be heard again.
We didn’t get through the group stage that night, but it was our first win over a European team at a World Cup (a fact that often got overlooked in analysis after the match).
Drunken pacts were made outside the stadium that night that if moments like that happened in Brazil 2014, we would be there to see them in person.
Goals can be a very powerful force.
For those of us who watch football, we want to see great football and great goals.
For those of us who play football, there is no doubt that we aspire to play great football and strive to score great goals.
But often our feet let us down and won’t do what we want them to and the truly great goals allude us.
We can, however, dream. Dream about playing for our favourite club. Dream about playing for our country. Dream about scoring goals for our country at a World Cup.
So here are three goals that would make up my dream hat-trick. They may not be the most well known goals and I don’t pretend that there aren’t better/ technically superior/more spectacular/ better team goals out there, but each of these goals were burned into my memory from the first time that I saw them.
The first goal would happen immediately after I come on as a substitute with the Socceroos 2-0 down and needing a win to get through. Coming into the midfield, I get a pass from the defence and with plenty of time and space, I take a touch to get the ball out in front of me, look up and…
The second goal is equal parts sheer audacity mixed with perfect execution and awareness. This one gets the score to 2-2 and hopefully raises the roof off the stadium, but it’s not over yet.
The third goal of the hat-trick displays many of the attributes we all wish we had. The ability to recover after a heavy first touch. Standing strong in the challenge instead of going to ground. Both feet being involved. Having the ball on a string. Ending with a delicate finish.
Why blast it into the net when I can just pass it into the net cool as a cucumber? 3-2 and it’s game over.
I think you know you have just done something special when you fool the cameraman three times in the one goal (watch the slow motion replay and count them). A hat-trick within a hat-trick.
So there you have it. My dream hat-trick. What’s yours?
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