It needs to be seen to be believed.
Glasgow Rangers striker Kemar Roofe sent soccer fans into meltdown on Thursday after scoring an outrageous goal in his side’s 2-0 win against Standard Liege in the Europa League.
Aside from being a truly wonderful strike, it was also a record-breaking effort — no player has scored a goal from further out (49.9 meters or 54.6 yards) in the albeit short history of the Europa League, according to Opta.
With his side holding onto a 1-0 lead in stoppage time, Roofe took it upon himself to put the game to bed.
After winning the ball back mid-way in his own half, Roofe powered his way past three defenders before unleashing a lobbed strike from just before the half-way line.
The ball went flying over goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart’s head who, like everyone else watching the game, was not expecting such an audacious effort.
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The 27-year-old Roofe has only been at the Scottish club for two months but will struggle to create a more memorable moment as the Englishman arguably inserted himself into the greatest goal ever scored debate.
His manager, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, described it as a truly “world-class” finish and told Rangers TV “it is the best goal I have ever seen live”. High praise indeed from a man who made his name as a player scoring miraculous goals.
In Scotland, there’s a huge rivalry between Rangers and Celtic and Roofe’s goal was analyzed slightly differently by one Hoops fan on Twitter, presumably with tongue firmly in cheek.
“Slight over reaction from the roofe goal … two breaks of the ball … scared to get hit from defender so knocks it away from him and then miss kicks his clearance punt as its deep into injury time and fortunately goes in. Whats all the fuss about?” tweeted John Condron.
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The goal sent Rangers players into a frenzied celebration with Roofe himself looking as surprised as anyone.
Those celebrations seemed to annoy the opposition’s bench with the match ending in unsavory scenes. A member of Liege’s backroom staff squared up to Roofe at full-time which sparked a melee between the two sides.
Once emotions had settled, Roofe was able to reflect on a special moment.
“In the moment, you know what is going on but it is one of those you have to watch back to really understand what it is like,” he said, per the BBC.
“It’s a good goal, but it doesn’t give you extra goals or points for scoring that. It is still the same as a tap-in.”
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