I briefly interrupt my 2011 film highlights to bring you a soccer highlight from earlier today. During Everton FC’s match against Bolton Wanderers, Everton and USA goalkeeper Tim Howard scored a freakish length-of-the-field windblown goal against his Hungarian opposite number, Ádám Bogdán. Here it is:
You can see the wind whipping through Bogdán’s jersey and hair in the aftermath. With this, Howard becomes only the fourth goalkeeper in the 20-year history of the English Premiership to score a goal. Of the others, Blackburn/USA’s Brad Friedel and Manchester United/Denmark’s Peter Schmeichel scored theirs off desperation-time corner kicks, while Tottenham Hotspur/England’s Paul Robinson scored a similar goal to Howard’s, though not from as far out.
As the announcers note, Howard didn’t celebrate too much. He’s made serious goalkeeping errors in his own time, and undoubtedly he knew that he could have just as easily been victimized by the vicious wind. He’ll feel even less like celebrating after his team went on to lose the game. Still, the goalie scored a goal. How often can you say that? To quote Howard’s former coach, Sir Alex Ferguson: “Football, bloody hell!”
