This week ESPN FC is counting down, in chronological order, 10 of the best goals to have been scored at the World Cup. We'll be bringing you two of the finest per day, but add your own and join the debate in our comments section or via the hashtag #FCWorldCupgoals. Users in the U.S. can watch each goal in the video above; those outside, please click here.
When Arie Haan crashed a 35-yard strike past helpless Italy goalkeeper Dino Zoff in 1978, it would have been difficult to conceive that a better long-range goal could ever be scored by a Dutchman at a World Cup. However, 32 years later, Giovanni van Bronckhorst did just that. The unlikeliest of candidates to be a World Cup semifinal goal scorer, 35-year-old Van Bronckhorst broke the deadlock against Uruguay in 2010 in remarkable fashion.
With just five goals in his previous 104 appearances, it was understandable that van Bronckhorst -- who had announced that the 2010 finals would be his last participation in professional football -- was afforded the freedom of the Cape Town Stadium’s turf to advance into the Uruguay half after receiving the ball from Wesley Sneijder in the 18th minute. In the South Americans’ goal, Fernando Muslera had his eyes on the left-back, awaiting a cross or switch of play.
Instead, the veteran Dutchman let fly. Surprising his teammates, opponents and the millions of people watching worldwide, van Bronckhorst took one touch to set himself before unleashing a thunderous left-foot shot that flew all of 40 yards beyond Muslera's grasp and into the top corner of goal. The Jabulani match-ball -- much maligned throughout the tournament for its unpredictability -- had been tamed by an unlikely source; much like the effort of defensive midfielder Haan three decades earlier, the goal was utterly unexpected.
Against the early run of play, skipper van Bronckhorst had led by example, setting the tone for a thrilling semifinal. Diego Forlan levelled for Uruguay before half-time, however, two goals in three minutes from Sneijder and then Arjen Robben gave Bert van Marwijk’s side a seemingly unassailable lead. Maxi Pereira’s late goal was no more than a consolation and the Oranje could celebrate booking a place in their first World Cup final since Haan and co lost to Argentina in 1978.
In what was the first World Cup of the Twitter generation, the social media network understandably exploded in the immediate aftermath of the Dutch captain's goal.
Bloody hell! Great goal from Gio (who by the way is a top bloke)
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) July 6, 2010
1990 - Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the first Dutch defender to score in a #Worldcup since Ronald Koeman in 1990. Rocket.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) July 6, 2010
Golazo-azo-AZO from Gio van Bronckhorst! Where did THAT come from. Fantastic.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) July 6, 2010
Speaking after the game, Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said: "The Dutch can create a goal from any situation. These were beautiful goals for football but rather unexpected for us. If we had to choose a way to lose it would have been this way.”
“It was incredibly beautiful; it was really a perfect shot. To strike a ball like that happens maybe once in a lifetime,” remarked Netherlands assistant coach and former captain Frank de Boer, while the next day Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf described how “a crazy goal from van Bronckhorst was the grand introduction to a beautiful evening for Orange Legion. The stadium exploded.”
“There were no tears, just joy,” said van Bronckhorst himself. “The last game in my career and it's a World Cup final, what can you say? It could not be more beautiful.”
Van Bronckhorst’s fairytale was never completed, however, as the former Arsenal and Rangers defender suffered a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Spain in the final a few days later. But 14 years after his international debut, van Bronckhorst could at least reflect on scoring the best goal of his career, in his last victory as a professional: “It was a strike that people will always remember me for.”