ON THIS DAY 23 years ago, on Gerland stadium in Lyon, one of the most famous goals in the history of the football league was scored. On that day, France and Brazil played the first round of the Tournoi de France, a warm-up for the FIFA World Cup the following summer.
Four national teams entered the tournament, the crème de la crème of world football - France, Brazil, Italy, and England. The home team and Brazil opened the tournament, and one crucial moment in the 21st minute made an insignificant friendly match historic.
Scoring the impossible
Brazil got a free kick 35 meters from Fabian Barthez's box, who was one of the world's best goalkeepers at the time. Roberto Carlos took the ball. The Brazilian approached with his recognizable run-up and, even though four players formed the wall with one top goalkeeper in the final barricade, he managed to do the impossible. The ball rolled in the net, and it left everyone watching the game looking perplexed for a moment.
"What a goal scored by Roberto Carlos, but it has to be said - with the big help from Fabian Barthez," said a sports commentator Drago Cosic, before he saw the slow-motion video of Carlos's projectile. Then he took back his words and bowed down to the marvelous Brazillian's masterpiece.
We've never seen the shooting and the goal like that before or ever after. Precise as a laser-steered rocket, but also forceful and invisible to the naked eye, just like a missile launching.
It was declared "the impossible goal" due to the performance, the realization and being indefensible, but also because it couldn't be explained how something like that is even possible.
Even the scientists discussed the goal
For many months later, the goal was widely debated - was the Brazillian's goal a fluke, or was he actually shooting for it. Scientists, physicists, and mathematicians were analyzing it, and the NASA's biggest minds were calculating the trajectory of Carlos's rocket using logarithms, because, damn it, in one moment before it hit the net, the ball was three or four meters away from the Barthez's left goalpost. How the hell is that even possible?
"It was a beautiful goal. It required a lot of training and hard work throughout my career. But that hard work paid off, as I was able to score such a wonderful goal, which was a special moment for me," said Carlos, who admitted that he never tried to do the masterpiece again.
"I never tried to kick like that again because I know I would never have scored. Someday someone will score a similar goal. But I was the first."
Goals like that are not a coincidence anymore
Goals like that are not a coincidence anymore, both because of a variety of Jabulani balls that make the goalkeepers pull their hair out, and more and more free-kick specialists.
However, when someone manages to accomplish something similar to what a short Brazillian with Hercules's thighs did on that June 3 in Lyon, every sports commentator will mention Carlos's name. On that day, perhaps the best left-back player of all times made history.
Anyway, for those interested, the Brazil and France match ended in a tie. The Selecao raised their game with Carlos, but in the 55th minute, Marc Keller tied the score. England won the tournament by defeating the host and Italy but was defeated by Brazil. Brazil ended up as runners-up by defeating England and by two ties with Italy and France. The host won third place, and Italy was in the last place.