20. Bicycle Kicks
Nothing gets the crowd off its feet like a bicycle kick goal and for good reason. They are football’s masterpieces; moments of rare and exquisite beauty that seem to defy logic and nature. One moment the striker is facing away from goal, no threat at all, then he is twisting in the air, hanging as if on strings. His boot connects with the ball with extraordinary power and the ferocity of the scissor motion sends it arrowing into the net. Inevitably the look on the player’s face is same as that of the fans: utter shock that he’s managed to pull it off.
19. Outfield Players In Goal
There’s something brilliantly comical about a player having to pull on the goalkeepers’ gloves in a competitive game. Like a chicken on skates or a snorkeling donkey, it’s against all rules of nature. It usually happens when the team’s goalkeeper and substitute keeper get injured, then the manager looks across at players to see who doesn’t mind taking the odd kick in the face in the line of duty. It might be a gangly centre-back or an all action midfielder but rarely does a prima donna striker ever fancy risking his perfect looks. Inevitably the opposition will score by the bucket load but every now and then the substitute goalie will pull off a miraculous save and you can’t help but admire his pluck.
18. Footballers’ Nicknames
The Fiery Elbow, The Baby Faced Assassin, The Vacuum Cleaner… Pet names for players are one of the brilliantly absurd things that makes football so great. Traditionally the nickname will originate from a footballers’ name, his country of origin, the way he plays or simply the way he looks. There’s been some fantastic ones throughout history: Ferenc Puskas was The Galloping Major, Roberto Baggio The Golden Ponytail while Stuart Pearce was simply Psycho. Some nicknames are less than flattering. Argentine World Cup winner Carlos Bilardo was Big Nose and Arsenal’s Tony Adams was Donkey. Still neither are as surreal as the one given to Dutch defender Ernst Faber: The Paperclip.
17. High Scoring Thrillers
There’s one criticism that is always leveled at football by non-fans and that is ‘there aren’t enough goals scored’. However, every now and again matches turn into slug-fests like two heavyweight boxers, defences down, exchanging blows. Perhaps the greatest Premier League games of all time ended Liverpool 4 – 3 Newcastle United - two seasons in a row! These are the games that don’t leave just finger nails bitten to shreds but fingers bitten to stumps as the pendulum of fortune swings from one side to the other and then back again. Of course, the closer the game the more satisfying the win but every fan also relishes the day when they watched their team slaughter the opposition in their beds. The stadium atmosphere turns into a fiesta as goal after goal goes in. Just ask any Socceroos fan about the day in 2011 when they beat American Somao 31-0. They’re probably still celebrating that score in some parts of Sydney!
16. Unexpected Goal Celebrations
Great goal celebrations are football’s icing on the cake. On it’s own, the goal Peter Crouch scored against Hungary in 2006 would have been enough but then the striker decided to become a giant, dancing robot – even the Hungarians enjoyed it. Rather less popular with the opposition was Atletico Mineiro’s Edmilson Ferreira. The Brazilian celebrated his goal against rivals America-Belo Horizonte – nicknamed the Rabbits – by pulling a carrot from his shorts and chewing it. Sometimes the celebrations become more celebrated than the goals. Everyone remembers the time Roma’s Francesco Totti ‘gave birth’ to a football with is legs akimbo, but who remembers the actual goal? One team has even become more famous for their goal celebrations then their football: Icelandic side Stjarnan FC have become a YouTube sensation for their highly choreographed post goal productions which include such hits as ‘Gone Fishing’, The Human Toilet’ and ‘Rambo’. We love these pre-planned celebrations but when a player just loses his head in the moment it shows us fans just how much he cares. Just think of Italian Marco Tardelli screaming his own name at the 1982 World Cup final like a kid in the playground dreaming of being a hero.
To find out more about the blue v1.11s go here.
You will be able to buy the new blue v1.11 at the end of March at your nearest participating INTERSPORT store.
Stay tuned for which stores will be selling the new v1.11 as we'll be telling you more soon.