There are goals and goals. Some ordinary, others unusual. Penalty ones, free kicks. Some beautiful, others not so much. Ugly goal, the top scorer and three-time world champion Dadá Maravilha, 79, ex-Atlético-MG and many others, said that it doesn’t exist and that “it’s ugly not to score a goal”.
Among the beautiful ones, there are also goals and goals. Narrators on TV exaggerate when classifying a goal as a “great goal” (in the voice, “golaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaço!!!!!!, in a very high tone, as if we were deaf), trivializing what shouldn’t be.
The rarest goals are much appreciated, such as the letter, the scorpion, the volley, the chest, the heel, the Olympic.
And there’s the bicycle one. In fact, there are announcers who treat a half-bike goal as a bicycle goal. They shouldn’t.
For a goal to be classified as a bicycle goal, the player must perfectly execute the movement of the play that we learned was created by Leônidas da Silva, the Black Diamond – however it was not like that, as I explained in text years ago. The Brazilian, with all his merits, popularized it.
Among those on bicycles, there are goals and goals. I was fortunate to see a beautiful performance live, at the stadium, in the Champions League final, by Welshman Gareth Bale, for Real Madrid, against Liverpool in 2018, in Kiev (Ukraine), after a cross from full-back Marcelo.
It was also in 2018, weeks before, that Cristiano Ronaldo scored a spectacular goal, for the same Real Madrid as Bale, against Juventus, in Turin. The Italian fans, amazed, applauded the Portuguese star.
When I mention Cristiano Ronaldo, I almost automatically think of Messi, the other superstar of this first quarter of the 21st century. The Argentine has never scored a bicycle goal, although there are people who consider what he did for PSG against Clermont in 2022, which was nothing more than a trick, to be one.
Regarding CR7’s great goal in Buffon, what was most impressive, besides the plasticity of the move, was the Lusitanian’s jump. He reached 2.38 m tall.
I didn’t think I would see anything so sensational again. But football has the power to surprise, and I saw it. Not just as much, but more sensational.
Briton Scott McTominay, 29, amazed the world with his goal for Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow last month in the match against Denmark that qualified the country for the 2026 World Cup.
The cross came from the right, and the 1.91 m midfielder (Cristiano Ronaldo is 1.89 m) jumped 2.53 m to execute the juggle. A perfect bike, the most stunning I’ve ever seen. An execution, disrespecting the law of gravity, so brilliant that, I’m sure, he, neither in a game nor in training, will be able to repeat it.
McTominay, “painting with his feet”, created a work of art, a masterpiece that would make a Da Vinci, a Van Gogh, a Michelangelo envious. And, if it is an exquisite work, it deserves to be displayed, seen and admired.
No sooner said than done. McTominay’s bicycle became a painting, which will be on display for the public, free of charge, until January 5th, in the noblest area of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The click was authored by Ross MacDonald.
Suddenly elevated to artist, McTominay, who plays for Napoli, is a regular starter for Brazil’s third opponent in the 2026 World Cup. Hello, Clodoaldo, hello, Marquinhos, hello, Gabriel Magalhães… Be careful with him on the aerial ball, whether or not he gives the ball. The warning is given.
