Best Golazos from World Football This Weekend
Several of Europe's top leagues concluded over the weekend while there were major cup finals in England, France, Spain and Germany.
The weekend, however, belonged to one man. Without giving away too many spoilers, he's Argentinean, he plays in Catalonia and he scored one of the most sublime goals in his glittering career on Saturday.
Enjoy B/R's latest weekend golazo ranking...
9. Harry Shipp (Chicago Fire) vs. Montreal Impact
1 of 9Harry Shipp scored the opener in Chicago's 3-0 win over Montreal on Saturday with a left-footed strike that launched into the upper 90 (translation: it went in the top corner).
If anything, the goal is worthy of inclusion here for the commentator's "Holy Shipp!" exclamation.
8. Sophie Schmidt (Canada) vs. England
2 of 9Canada will host the Women's World Cup, which starts next weekend, and a 1-0 win over England in a friendly in Ontario on Friday night gave the host nation a boost.
The goal was a fantastic one-touch effort from 26-year-old midfielder Sophie Schmidt, who perfectly placed the ball in the top corner from outside the box.
7. Marco Parolo (Napoli) vs. Lazio
3 of 9Sunday's most significant game was surely Napoli's encounter with Lazio, which was effectively a contest to decide which team will play Champions League football next season.
The Biancocelesti triumphed by a 4-2 margin, and they opened the scoring in fine style with a long-range bullet from Marco Parolo just past the half-hour mark.
6. Roberto Pereyra (Juventus) vs. Hellas Verona
4 of 9Juventus played out an eventful 2-2 draw with Hellas Veronas in their final game of the domestic season—and the final game before their big Champions League date next week.
The Old Lady's opener was an absolute beauty from Argentinean midfielder Roberto Pereyra, who curled a shot into the top right corner from around 25 yards.
5. Nabil Bahoui (AIK) vs. Helsingborg
5 of 9The 11th round of Swedish Allsvenskan matches took place over the weekend, and AIK earned a 3-1 win over Helsingborg at Stockholm's Friends Arena.
Moroccan-born Swedish international Nabil Bahoui scored twice for AIK, with his second strike taking the form of a beautiful curling effort from outside the box in the 68th minute.
4. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) vs. Aston Villa
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Arsenal stormed to a 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, earning a record 12th FA Cup for their efforts.
In the 50th minute, Alexis Sanchez scored what must rank among the best FA Cup final goals in history when he hit an absolute screamer past Shay Given from around 25 yards. Few goalkeepers in the world would have been able to do anything about it.
Sanchez incidentally became the second-ever Chilean to score in an FA Cup final. The first was George Robledo of Newcastle United—against Arsenal, per the Guardian's Scott Murray.
3. Balazs Dzsudzsak (Dynamo Moscow) vs. Krasnodar
7 of 9Krasnodar and Dynamo Moscow finished third and fourth in the Russian Premier League respectively when they drew 1-1 on the final day of the season.
Moscow scored what must be a contender for Russian goal of the season when Yuri Zhirkov put a cross in to Kevin Kuranyi, who headed into the path of Balazs Dzsudzsak, who smashed in an unstoppable volley. (Click here too see the full buildup.)
It's a rare kind of golazo that combines brilliant team play with an exceptional finish.
2. Jan Holenda (Viktoria Plzen) vs. Pribram
8 of 9Viktoria Plzen won the Czech Liga on the final day of the season on Saturday, pipping reigning champs Sparta Prague to the post thanks to a 5-2 victory over Pribram.
The win featured two goals from Czech striker Jan Holenda, one of which was a stunning overhead kick.
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) vs. Athletic Bilbao
9 of 9Lionel Messi has done it again.
The Argentinean genius opened the scoring in Saturday's Copa del Rey final with the kind of ridiculous goal that will sit very high in his ridiculous goal highlight reel.
Picking up the ball near the halfway line, Messi proceeded to dribble towards goal, casually shaking off challenges from Mikel Balenziaga, Benat Etxebarria, Balenziaga again, Mikel Rico and Aymeric Laporte. His finish was typically sublime.
The Barca star scored again in the 3-1 victory, marking his 34th in the competition—the highest tally among active players, per ESPN Stats & Info. He has now scored 830 goals in 910 games, per MessiStats.
Wow. Just wow.
