Probably the Best Shearer Goal ……. Probably. (Alan Shearer)

Member Name: roebuddy

Product:	Alan Shearer
Date:	03/07/01 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing Goalscorer, Scorer of the odd Amazing Goal

Disadvantages: His past reputation, Perhaps will never be as good as he was

You could never keep a goal scorer like Alan Shearer down and over the years he’s scored many a goal from short-range tap-ins (often blasted in) to mid-long range wonder strikes (often blasted in).

To an extent I’ve lost track of his best strikes in league and cup matches. But some of mine (and most peoples’) abiding memories were his strikes in England colours.

There’s one against fairly weakish opposition in Poland where Paul Emerson Ince (one of my fave players) was involved on the break in a tackle with an opposition defender on the inside centre left of England’s half; and his slide tackle doubled as an awesome long range, daisy-cutter of a pass into Alan’s path, and the aforementioned striker struck a first time shot into the back of the Polish Net. Fantastic.

Much as I particularly enjoyed that goal, and as fantastic as it was in all parts of its execution, I wouldn’t rate it as Shearer’s best effort.

That honour I bestow upon a goal he scored in a 3-0 win over Portugal in a friendly at Wembley.

Funnily enough, the goal against Portugal has quite a bit in common with the one he scored against Poland in that World Cup qualifier in 1997. Both were set up on the counter attack. Both Shearer goals owed assists to midfield maestros – defensive/combative midfielders at that! Both were in the end comfortable wins. And both England performances were highly rated, with the captain leading by example.

So, just to refresh your memory, the very final moments of that goal:

On the counter attack, David Batty was involved in a tussle for the ball against an opposition defender deep in Portugal’s half on the left hand side, and he managed to execute an immensely high looping pass towards the right hand side and just outside of Portugal’s penalty box.

Shearer had long escaped his marker and bounded purposefully towards the intended land
ing area of the ball – never taking his gaze off this spinning white sphere.

Needless to say, the man reached the ball’s ‘proposed’ landing are before it did, and he rifled a right footed volley into the top right hand corner of Portugal’s goal – never giving the goalkeeper a chance.

Football fans up and down the South East and other parts of the country often have the right idea in watching the live game on Sky Sports with the volume turned down low and putting on the commentary on 1548 Capital Radio Gold SportsTime (with Jonathon Pearce and Tony Gayle – “Sponsored by Sports.com – Click Here for Football”).

Pearcey RAVED about the gaol as soon as it was struck – he put words to the emotions before ANYONE else could. “OH WHAT A VOLLEY!” he roared. Indeed! No truer words were spoken in the instance of such excellence.

The magic continued as Tony Gayle, Shearer’s former colleague and club captain at Blackburn, lent his thoughts. He said there was “no one else in the world that could have finished that ball better than what Alan did that night”. No truer words were spoken.

What a goal scorer.

You can say what you want about his records since and before, the clubs he’s joined and those he turned down, and the future of the man – but you can’t doubt he’s scored some fantastic goals. As I’ve said, his international ones spring to mind, but I’m sure you’ll all be reminding me of his excellent goals at club level.

And just to pre-empt some of you: how about the winner against Spurs in the FA Cup Semi. Or the free kick really early on in his return to Newcastle, where everyone thought for sure he’d place it on the head of Les Ferdinand.

Come on – the forum’s open!

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