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FIFA 15’s 10 best goals yet
The glorious netbusters that put your poacher’s tap-ins and toe punts to shame.
Welcome to the Red Bull unofficial Goal of the Tournament competition, bringing you the best headers and volleys we've seen so far on EA's latest and best footie sim. There are familiar faces and breathtaking finishes galore, many of which have no right to end up being picked out of the dejected keeper’s net. We've said before that getting a good shot in this latest title from the FIFA franchise is actually quite tricky, but these gamers make it look like child's play. Maybe we’re just not very good! Let us know if we've missed any wonder goals and also tell us which of the following 10 is your number one. Now, prefer to feast on a banquet of superlatives…
1. Bicycle kicks inside the area are for beginners
"It's the fourth game of season one, so far we haven't won… but we have Robin Van Persie, so there's always that working for us", so says the uploader at the start of this video. He was right to be optimistic. Hightail it to 3:00 and something very special happens. "I didn't even mean to do that!", cookieboy17 screams, as the flying Dutchman spots a long ball hoofed down the pitch (the best way to create chances according to experts) and decides to unleash an overhead kick… from outside the box. "You got me speechless, Van Persie", the gamer says twice, before continuing to speak a lot. By the way, he wins the game.
2. "CRAZY CRISTIANO RONALDO GOAL!"
The video title alone has been enough to pull in over 90,000 views, and the poster wasn't exaggerating. Picking up a high pass on the left wing, he controls it, turns his man to come inside and unleashes a trademark bullet, from the edge of the box, into the far-right corner. We've criticised the keeper's of FIFA 15 before but faced with this piledriver, we wouldn't bother to move either. Our favourite bit is the replay around the 0:17 mark. Stunning.
3. He's done it again!
Cristiano goals don't usually come in ones, so we’ve taken the liberty of squeezing another one in, this time a set piece. Even if you don't know the name, you'll have seen a 'rabona' – the method of kicking the football where the kicking leg wraps behind the back of the standing leg – from Ronaldo before. Here he reaches peak rabona, courtesy of a free kick from the edge of the area. The commentators call the goal a "side foot" and put it down to "giving the keeper the eyes", but, as always, just ignore them.
4. Anything you can do, Cristiano…
In this short clip, calmly titled “MESSI CRAZY NO LOOK VOLLEY BACK HEEL GOAL”, the four-time Ballon d'Or winner receives a cross from his right and decides to turn and back heel the ball into the net, almost as if he's bored and disgusted to have to score again. As 'MoSkillerHD' commented: "OMGGGGGGG". As Messi seems to say: “Meh.”
5. This ball would still be going if not for the net
No sound with this short clip – only 15 seconds – and only 1,300 views, but that's doesn't diminish its quality. The ball is taken from a corner, lofted straight back to around 40 yards out, where a player waits like a coiled spring. As the ball floats out towards him, he takes a couple of steps and unleashes the sweetest volley you'll ever see. The video freezes on seven seconds, to show eight opposition players standing in the box with their hands on their hips. The same gamer has posted a second video, 14 seconds long, which is nearly as sublime.
6. "Just kick it in? Nah…"
What would you do if you were through on an empty goal from one yard out? Correct: kick hard and pray it doesn't fly over the bar. That's too easy for Neymar. In this 38-second clip, the Brazilian ace rounds the keeper, stops to do a few tricks in the six-yard box, somehow back heels the ball into the air as the keeper dives at his feet and then scorpion kicks it, off the post, into the net, just as a defender leaps at him like a salmon. That's just taking the…
7. Now you're just showing off, Robin
Mr R Van Persie scored arguably one of the greatest World Cup goals of all time in Brazil this summer, with his majestic diving header in Holland's 5-1 victory over Spain. It was such a special goal that it was even immortalised on a special coin produced by the Royal Dutch Mint. Soon after it happened, the Wondergoal was recreated on FIFA. The header in this short clip brings back the memories. Apologies for the quality.
8. Just hit right back!
Man Utd flood forwards towards the opposition box, Falcao is just about to strike when Spurs' defence nick the ball on the edge of their own area and proceed to string together seven one-touch passes out of their half, followed by three more passes (one of them a backheel) before Christian Eriksen fires it into the net. As the title suggests, this is how to counter-attack with style.
9. The 30-yard Scorpion Kick – is that even possible?
Those of a certain age will remember Colombian goalie René Higuita's two-footed scorpion kick clearance in a friendly against England in 1995. This is kind of like that, but executed by a striker, using just the one leg, and the ball ends up flying into the opposition net. Obviously. You can head to 0:48 to see the player in white lob the keeper from all of 30 yards, but we'd recommend just watching the whole 1:44 video, which contains a collection of some of the strangest and breathtaking FIFA goals you'll ever see.
10. IT'S GONE TO PENALTIES!
To finish, naturally, we rely on a penalty. We've showcased some wonderful goals here, but to end we thought we’d go from the sublime to the silly. In this video of a shootout – viewed over 400,000 times – in a FIFA 15 demo, we see Ricky Lambert step up to hit a side-footer to Petr Čech's right-hand side. The mighty Czech heroically saves, sending the ball looping into the air. He then stands and watches calmly as it bounces three times, gently spinning back into the goal. Marvellous.
