10 Best Golazos from World Football This Weekend

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may be favourites for the Ballon d'Or, but fellow nominee James Rodriguez should not necessarily be discounted.

According to Ashley Clements of the Daily Mail, Mario Yepes—who gets a Ballon d'Or vote as Colombia's captain—believes the Real Madrid starlet is within the same realm as football's biggest stars. James scored yet another stunning golazo at the weekend, which will surely help his cause among those casting votes.

Elsewhere in this weekend's goal ranking, there are beautiful efforts from England, India, Italy, Holland, the USA, Portugal and Germany...  

10. Alvaro Morata (Juventus) vs. Empoli

Serie A champions Juventus recovered from a shock loss to Genoa on Wednesday with a 2-0 win at struggling Empoli. 

Both goals were quite special. Andrea Pirlo broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with an excellent free kick, albeit one that the Empoli wall seemed keen to avoid. 

Eleven minutes later, Pirlo's effort was eclipsed by Alvaro Morata, who struck a brilliant left-footed drive past the goalkeeper to seal all three points. 

9. Nicolas Anelka (Mumbai City) vs. Kerala Blasters

The fifth round of the inaugural Indian Super League season took place over the weekend, with Mumbai City overcoming the brilliantly named Kerala Blasters by a 1-0 scoreline. 

The goal was scored in style by Nicola Anelka (remember him?) from a 30-yard free-kick. It was the notoriously sulky Frenchman's first time finding the net since his controversial quenelle celebration and subsequent ban. 

8. Lasse Schone (Ajax) vs. Dordrecht

Ajax coasted to a 4-0 win over Dordrecht in Amsterdam on Saturday, with Lass Schone bagging the first two goals, bringing his league tally for the season to six. 

The Danish midfielder's second strike was a fantastically powerful free-kick from the edge of the area, which Dordrecht keeper Filip Kurto didn't even have a chance to dive for.

They say a goalkeeper should never be beaten at his near post, but surely an exception must be made for thunderbolt dead balls like this. 

7. Charlie Davies (New England) vs. Columbus Crew

New England Revolution won their MLS Eastern Conference play-off match against the Columbus Crew on Saturday, thanks in part to a brace from striker Charlie Davies.

Davies' second and the Rev's fourth goal came in the 78th minute, when the 28-year-old picked up the ball near the halfway line and released a beautiful shot from outside the box. 

There wasn't much in the way of defensive pressure in his path, but the technique cannot be faulted. 

6. Urreta (Pacos de Ferreira) vs. Setubal

Pacos de Ferreira climbed to fourth place in the Portuguese Primeira on Saturday with a 4-1 home victory over Setubal. 

After a goalless first half, the Porto side took the lead in the 52nd minute via a wonderful solo goal from Uruguayan winger Jonathan Urretaviscaya, better known as Urreta. 

5. Franco Di Santo (Werder Bremen) vs. Mainz

Franco Di Santo had a good day at the office when his Werder Bremen side visited Mainz on Saturday, as he scored both goals in a 2-0 victory.

The former Chelsea star's second came when Felix Kroos fed a perfect ball over the top of the Mainz defence, which Di Santo beautifully controlled and slotted past the goalkeeper.  

4. Victor Wanyama (Southampton) vs. Hull

Nigel Roddis/Getty Images

Many had tipped Southampton as relegation candidates at the start of this campaign, and yet they sit second in the Premier League after 10 games thanks to a 1-0 victory at Hull this weekend. 

The only goal of the game was scored in the third minute when Victor Wanyama punished Hull's third-choice goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupovic, for a poor clearance by chipping the ball in from around 40 yards.

It was a lovely goal but a home debut that the Tigers keeper will probably want to forget. 

3. Yacine Brahimi (Porto) vs. Nacional

Porto's attempts to claim their 28th Portuguese Primeira Liga title stayed on track on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Nacional from Madeira. 

French Algerian midfielder Yacine Brahimi scored one of the most stunning goals of the weekend in the 74th minute, playing a brilliant one-two on the edge of the box before wrong-footing three defenders and curling a lovely shot inside the right post. 

2. Giovanni Marchese (Genoa) vs. Udinese

This is calcio at its very finest.

Genoa pulled off a 4-2 victory at Udinese on Sunday, registering their first goal in the 21st minute through Giovanni Marchese.

Despite being a defender, the 30-year-old showed unbelievable attacking technique when he launched a volley into the top corner from outside the area. 

1. James Rodriguez (Real Madrid) vs. Granada

Cristiano Ronaldo may have scored in his 12th successive Real Madrid game—and needed only 99 seconds to do so—but the Portuguese superstar was overshadowed in Los Blancos' visit to Granada on Saturday by James Rodriguez.

The Colombian further justified his €80 million price tag with two goals in the 4-0 victory, the first of which was a world-class volley from the edge of the box in the 31st minute. First touches don't come much better than that.

James is really becoming quite a regular on this weekly golazo ranking.

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