Orlando Engelaar’s motivation to unleash a wonder strike from inside his own half may have emerged from a casual conversation with his cousin.
It will go down in Hyundai A-League history as one of the competition-s great goals, but Orlando Engelaar-s motivation to unleash a wonder strike from inside his own half may have emerged from a casual conversation with his cousin.
Engelaar-s strike, his fourth of the 2013-14 campaign, will be talked about for many years to come and became a YouTube sensation overnight, with comparisons drawn with long-range efforts from Wayne Rooney and David Beckham.
The 14-time Dutch international realised he had done something special when he glanced up, saw Central Coast Mariners ‘keeper Liam Reddy off his line and pulled the trigger, executing an arrow-like shot just under the crossbar from 55 metres.
Relive Orlando’s wonder goal by clicking play on the video below
“Yeah, of course, you realise right at that moment you have done something special, that-s nice to remember,” Engelaar said.
“I already thought about it during the game, I was watching the keeper, because I have been thinking about it for a while now and I spoke about it with my cousin, he told me to do it.
“So it-s been going through my mind, just waiting for the right moment, so the moment was there.”
While it is already a shared view that Engelaar-s strike is the best the A-League has seen, Engelaar was hesitant to say it was his personal best.
“There was one that made me doubt that a little bit, which I scored for FC Twente, but I think this one is better,” Engelaar said.
While the execution was precise and forethought, Engelaar said there was an element of luck about his strike.
“It-s not something you practice, it-s just something you do and you try and see what happens,” Engelaar said.
While Engelaar has contributed four goals to the Red and White this season, the towering midfielder believes he still has more goals to offer in the team-s last three games.
“I used to score quite a few goals as a midfielder because I was more of an attacking midfielder and that changed a little bit; I have played half my career as an attacking midfielder and the other half I have played as a defensive controlling midfielder,” Engelaar said.
“Since I came here [to Melbourne Heart] I have been playing a more attacking role again and scoring has also come back.”
