Zidane's Volley vs Bale's Bicycle Kick

[SincereTheRebel]

Who scored the better Champions League final goal?

2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3BLrgvgHnE


2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JbOoJ_dge4

[Pepe]

Zidane, no doubt.

Overhead kicks, cool as they are, are massively overrated. The player basically throws himself in the air and hopes for the best.

[SincereTheRebel]

Players attempt volleys all the time and they get sky’d. Overheads are more rarely attempted.

[Dquincy]

Zidane, no doubt.

Overhead kicks, cool as they are, are massively overrated. The player basically throws himself in the air and hopes for the best.

No, shit players hope for the best. A skilled player knows exactly what they're trying to do.

Bale's is better.

[Pepe]

Players attempt volleys all the time and they get sky’d.

Which is what makes Zidane's impressive.

[Byron]

Zidane. The way he pivots and the control needed to place that volley is just incredible.

[Spikey M]

On rewatching both I’ve changed my mind. Bales was better.

[Yevrah]

On rewatching both I’ve changed my mind. Bales was better.

I'm exactly the same. I came in here fully expecting to say Zidane's, but it just isn't.

Oh and there's nothing more retarded than the "bicycle kicks have an element of luck in them" argument. These aren't kids twatting around on a park, they're professionals who practice day in day out for decades.

[Spikey M]

Any spectacular goal has an element of good luck about it. Roberto Carlos’ ‘banana freekick’ isn’t any less outstanding because he put 9/10 in to the wall.

[Yevrah]

Any spectacular goal has an element of good luck about it. Roberto Carlos’ ‘banana freekick’ isn’t any less outstanding because he put 9/10 in to the wall.

I think luck is completely the wrong word, is basically my point.

Just because you can't do something 100% of the time doesn't make it lucky when you do pull it off.

[Magic]

I think Bales.

[Lewis]

I don't think his is even better than the Juventus one from last year, which was more controlled, a cleaner strike, and more 'unsaveable'.

[Shindig]

Bale. You can practice those a bit more than the overheads. As for 'hit and hope', nobody goes up for one thinking it's going wide.

[Pepe]

I'm exactly the same. I came in here fully expecting to say Zidane's, but it just isn't.

Oh and there's nothing more retarded than the "bicycle kicks have an element of luck in them" argument.

Intent to do something and correct execution of it. The more precise your intent is, the harder it will be to execute it to perfection.

[Raoul Duke]

I don't think his is even better than the Juventus one from last year, which was more controlled, a cleaner strike, and more 'unsaveable'.

Rooney's versus City and even Andy Carrol's were better (technique-wise) overhead kicks.

Bale's, whilst a great strike, was more of a hopeful welly and was against a keeper who appeared to be having some form of mild seizure throughout the match.

[Yevrah]

Rooney's vs. City came off his shin, no? That's lucky.

[Magic]

Rooney's versus City and even Andy Carrol's were better (technique-wise) overhead kicks.

Bale's, whilst a great strike, was more of a hopeful welly and was against a keeper who appeared to be having some form of mild seizure throughout the match.

Can someone get a pooper scooper to shovel up this shite please.

[Raoul Duke]

Rooney's vs. City came off his shin, no? That's lucky.

A little, perhaps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpSwJWr-hMI but more so that it was played in from deep and shot back across goal - genuinely unsaveable.

[Magic]

:D

Spot the scummer.

[SincereTheRebel]

Turns out Rooney has scored both types of strikes


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHqRpJ7tLY

[Pepe]

That was a monster strike too.

[Yevrah]

Ah, when Rooney used to routinely score amazing goals.

[Baz]

That's my favourite Rooney goal, purely because he's arguing with the referee just seconds before blasting it home.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Zidane's.

[mugbull]

Bale’s, easily. Zidane was twatting it and hoping for the best too

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Bale's on the basis that that he was dealing with a fast cross anyone would just be happy to connect with vs. the perfect set up Zidane had for a volley.

[Adramelch]

I went for Zidane's just on the simple fact that I've seen goals resemble the one that Bale scored, while Zidane's is more rare in my opinion.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Zidane all day long. The height from which the ball dropped and the power/precision needed to score are absurd. Not even on his favoured foot either.

Bale's was a brilliant execution of a long odds wager. Zidane was in total control.

[Raoul Duke]

Zidane's was with his weaker foot too

[Dquincy]

And he wasn't using his stronger foot.

[Reg]

I didn't see Zidane's live and it's always hard to compare goals that you did/didn't see at the time. Bale's was spectacular and that colours my impression of it (not that the technique isn't outstanding). Difficulty wise, I think Zidane's edges it - partly because it's on his weaker foot but also because the ball's coming from so high up which makes it so hard to direct and make a clean contact with.

Bale's has both the spectacular, unexpected, 'moment you don't forget' factor and perfect technique, which ranks it above goals like Rooney's shinner.

[Mazuuurk]

Zidanes is more technique and Bales is more physique (I couldn't picture Zidane doing that, for instance).


I like Zidanes more, because calm feats of technique in football get me going. Like that Bergkamp goal against Newcastle I think.

[Baz]

Is Bale’s not tarnished by the fact the goalkeeper was having the worst game of his life?

[Mazuuurk]

No :D

Bales wasn't exactly something he "should have saved"

[Magic]

Mmm... back to Zidane's goal after multiple watches.

[SincereTheRebel]

Bale's get better every time you watch it. The height he got from the poor(ish) cross, moving away from goal.

[Mazuuurk]

The thing is both of them are really sweet as well because of other aspects.

Zidanes is nice because he's Zidane, and pretty much everyone likes Zidane (at least as a player).

Bales is nice because he comes off the bench off of a bit of a shit season and does that with like his second touch or something right in front of Ronaldo who's done fuck all all game, and pretty much everyone dislikes Ronaldo.


And both goals were in Finals. If we're going to take a look at all goals having been scored in the CL, then it's probably some scorcher from Brazilian Bob in a random game between Dynamo Soviet and FC SchaafenFrüffen.

[bruhnaldo]

Bale for me. Zidane has all the time in the world to watch the ball fall to his foot.

Bale has to make a split second decision to throw himself up and at a ball that was played behind him and places it perfectly.

Easy for me, tbh.

[Magic]

Bale for me. Zidane has all the time in the world to watch the ball fall to his foot.

Bale has to make a split second decision to throw himself up and at a ball that was played behind him and places it perfectly.

Easy for me, tbh.

From the moment the ball leaves Carlos' foot it's about 0.5 seconds for him to watch it and place it.

[Pepe]

Ball fall to his foot. :harold:

Places it perfectly. :harold:

[bruhnaldo]

From the moment the ball leaves Carlos' foot it's about 0.5 seconds for him to watch it and place it.

It's a solid 2-3 seconds, an eternity compared to Bale who, as soon as the ball left Marcelo's foot, has to start coming back to meet it and throws himself skyward at it out of basic instinct.

You could make the argument that Zidane's could be more impressive because he had time to think about it and I find often when you have time to think about something in sport you can often get stuck in between two ideas and flub it entirely. Bale made up his mind from the jump and went straight for it.

[bruhnaldo]

Ball fall to his foot. :harold:

Places it perfectly. :harold:

The ball is sent skyward 20 yards in the air, he literally stands and watches it fall down to his foot.

Bale puts the ball top corner, a perfect placement that no one would've saved.

I'm not saying he placed it there, I'm saying he managed to put the ball in that sweet spot whilst coming back to the ball and contorting his body to meet the ball above his head.

[John]

A ball coming straight out of the sky from that height is considerably harder to judge and hit well than you seem to think it is.

[Spoonsky]

There's something really unique about Zidane's, but I think Bale's is a better goal. It's incredible the amount of pace he gets on the ball.

[Pepe]

Bale’s, easily. Zidane was twatting it and hoping for the best too

The only time Zidane ever just twatted it was that time against Materazzi.

[Spoonsky]

Where is Ronaldo in the celebration? What exactly was he doing in that time?

[bruhnaldo]

A ball coming straight out of the sky from that height is considerably harder to judge and hit well than you seem to think it is.

I'm not saying it isn't. I'm saying in comparison to what Gareth Bale did, Gareth Bale's goal was more impressive.

In a vacuum Zidane's goal is fucking amazing. When you consider it next to Bale's, given all of the factors I've already mentioned with regards to his goal, I consider Bale's to be of a greater difficulty.

Never once have I said what he done isn't difficult in the slightest.

[Disco]

Where is Ronaldo in the celebration? What exactly was he doing in that time?

If I remember rightly he was grinning like a loon (not the bird) as soon as it went in.

[SincereTheRebel]

It looks fairly straightforward to replicate the Zidane goal. That Bale goal looks much more complicated. Sounds like there is a youtube series in that somewhere.

[Magic]

And how many goals like Zidane's has there been?

I can think of several better similar goals than Bale's goal instantly. The only difference is the stage and point in the match.

[Giggles]

Where is Ronaldo in the celebration? What exactly was he doing in that time?

He's around 3rd or 4th into the pile from what I seen in the camera angle that shows the whole pitch.

EDIT: 5th.


1000974750452105217

[phonics]

It looks fairly straightforward to replicate the Zidane goal. That Bale goal looks much more complicated. Sounds like there is a youtube series in that somewhere.

Zidane himself has said something about trying to recreate that goal in training over and over and failing.

[mugbull]

Zidane himself has said something about trying to recreate that goal in training over and over and failing.

Sounds like it was a lucky goal then?

If you put other class players into the correct position for both those goals and took 1000 samples, the Zidane goal would be being scored way more often than the Bale goal. His version of it looks nice because he found the sweet spot on a ball that had been launched 12 yards into the air, but scoring from that ball in itself isn't impossibly difficult

[Spoonsky]

He's around 3rd or 4th into the pile from what I seen in the camera angle that shows the whole pitch.

EDIT: 5th.


[video]

Cheers, not sure why he disappears in the TV version. That angle is brilliant.

[Adramelch]

If you put other class players into the correct position for both those goals and took 1000 samples, the Zidane goal would be being scored way more often than the Bale goal.

Then why does it feel like I've rarely if ever seen goals similar to Zidane's but I've seen quite a few like Bale's?

[Spoonsky]

Then why does it feel like I've rarely if ever seen goals similar to Zidane's but I've seen quite a few like Bale's?

Pretty rare for a ball to drop from the sky like that unchallenged I'd say. Whereas no defender was ever going to get to the cross for Bale's (and Bale himself had no right to).

[mugbull]

Probably because there are more crosses in football than balls falling from the sky

EDIT: Lol Spoons we used the same wording

[Giggles]

Cheers, not sure why he disappears in the TV version. That angle is brilliant.


1000675956858720256

[ItalAussie]

Practically every overhead is lauded as the greatest goal ever.

Can we all just accept that they look impressive, but they're also a huge roll of the dice? They're practically a different category of endeavour to other goals.

EDIT: And Rivaldo's overhead is still the best for mine. The one where he juggles the cross a couple of times, rather than the one where he controls it on his chest. Although it's a measure of the man that you still have to specify which all-time great overhead goal you mean.

[Panda Bear]

Pretty much every single high-level amateur and professional footballer will tell you that Zidane's volley was more difficult.

https://youtu.be/rFfomw-Z4uE

Just watch how much Zidane has to contort his body to strike that ball properly during the sequence at 0:57. It's not your typical volleyed goal like van Persie's Charlton or Rooney's Newcastle because he's not running into the flight of the ball nor is dropping right in front of him.

Bale's goal requires extreme athleticism--he had no right to connect with that ball--but its technical execution is simpler due to it being a straightforward cross.

[Baz]

Trevor Sinclair should be in this poll.


https://youtu.be/MomkYgXPudw

[Danny]

Trevor Sinclair should be in this poll.


https://youtu.be/MomkYgXPudw

Aye Trevor Sinclair’s goal in the fourth round of the FA Cup should be in this poll


Who scored the better Champions League final goal?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Someone find me another goal remotely like the Zidane one.

[bruhnaldo]

Find me an instance where a ball goes 15 yards into the sky and has time to drop back down before a defender challenges for it at the edge of the box first. I reckon it's a nearly impossible exercise.

[igor_balis]

Sounds like it was a lucky goal then?

If you put other class players into the correct position for both those goals and took 1000 samples, the Zidane goal would be being scored way more often than the Bale goal. His version of it looks nice because he found the sweet spot on a ball that had been launched 12 yards into the air, but scoring from that ball in itself isn't impossibly difficult

not a fucking chance

[-james-]

Ronaldinho vs Chelsea will always be the best goal ever.

[Panda Bear]

Standing side volleys on a ball coming at you from a 45 degree angle is a million times more difficult to handle than a horizontal cross.

[mugbull]

not a fucking chance

Of course it would. they wouldn’t all look exactly the same, but theyd be in the net quite a bit

[Pepe]

Can't argue against that evidence.

[Spikey M]

Can't argue against that evidence.

Hold my beer.


Of course it would. they wouldn’t all look exactly the same, but theyd be in the net quite a bit

Would not!

[Lewis]

Absolutely destroyed him there Idiotmouse. :cool:

[Danny]

Someone find me another goal remotely like the Zidane one.

Closest I can think of

https://youtu.be/Kg9VEEVpe3s

[Spikey M]

Absolutely destroyed him there Idiotmouse. :cool:

Dishing out mercings like it’s 2008.

[Magic]

DS and his merc'd mate brings back terrible memories.

[Spikey M]

Played Magic.

[Panda Bear]

Closest I can think of

https://youtu.be/Kg9VEEVpe3sAnd even then, that's coming across his body which makes it way easier.

[phonics]

The only goal I can think of coming down even close to as vertical for the 'pass' is that stupid Balotelli one and that barely counts.

I was trying to think of vertical goals and was wondering if any of Van Persies volleys would have counted, the answers no but I got to see this again.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Ehw1LvULk

The goal and the celebration are both top tier stuff. What a cunt.

TBH this ones even better.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHkEngoWgoU

What a talented bastard I hate him. You know you're going to see some tasty stuff when you search for a players volleys and he's rolling 5 deep in the auto-complete.

https://i.imgur.com/PTl3eBA.png

[Danny]

And even then, that's coming across his body which makes it way easier.

As easy as a volley with your leg up that high can be!