4). Wayne Rooney - Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City - Here it is, the aforementioned 'king' of all bicycle kick - Sir Alex Ferguson named it: "The best goal that had ever been scored at Old Trafford", and mutters of 'goal of the year' were being heard all over England as soon as this spectacular effort was broadcast. Many would be surprised to see it as low as 4th in our list - as mentioned previously, his timing, context and distance was enough for him to succeed Argentine Lopez but unfortunately not enough for the former Evertonian to crack the 2011 top 3. It was the Portuguese international Nani out wide right who whipped in a dangerous looking ball - which inadvertently took a crucial deflection of Pablo Zabaletta on the way through - crucial in the terms of giving the ball the height Rooney needed to execute this moment of magic. Whilst Micah Richards could only stand and gaze, he would be proud in hindsight to have the best view out of all 70-odd thousand in Old Trafford, Rooney leapt from the ground with his back to goal, swung one leg over the other and dispatched a breathtaking bicycle effort into the top corner past a motionless Joe Hart from all of 12 yards. A Manchester derby, with City's new side on the rise - not a bad little moment for Rooney to pick out such a belter - a goal that will doubtless go down in Premier League history.
3). Dejan Stankovic - Inter Milan 2-5 Schalke - Here we are, into the big top three and the third best goal of the 2011 calender year - in my own humble opinion - goes to Dejan Stankovic of Inter Milan. I referenced earlier to long distant efforts not hitting the dizzying heights perhaps expected this year in our list, this supreme strike, was not just any long strike. Admittedly, at the moment of contact Manuel Neuer was on the edge of his penalty area but what we should be remembering, is that A) This is a UEFA Champions League Quarter Final (no mean occasion) B) This what hit by a seasoned veteran with the ability to pull a pearler from the top drawer being well noted as one of his qualities and C) Well, the reaction of team-mates such as as a certain Messers Sneijder, Milito and Zanetti really said all you need to know. Esteban Cambiasso's knock over the top was reached by Neuer, who pulled off a rather unorthodox, erratic diving header to clear his lines on the edge of his 18 yard box. As surprisingly well the German international goalkeeper did distance wise on his clearance, he wouldn't of wanted into to land on the boot of this Serbian. Stankovic watched the ball like an eagle, all the way onto that right-boot, with which he struck a stupendous sliced first time volley from pretty much the half-way line, painfully over Neuer's head back into the empty net. Sumptuous technique from Stankovic, it's hard to imagine many players in the world pull off a goal like that - he is certainly one of them.
2). Giovani dos Santos - Mexico 2-4 United States - Now this goal had everything, Tottenham Hotspur's little Mexican international picked out one of the top moments in International football to bury what will more than likely be the best goal he will net all his career - certainly Spur's fans will be itching for a bit of this at The Lane on a Saturday afternoon. The goal threat from Gio began when he made an intelligent run into the box only to be tracked by USA stopper Tim Howard - it appeared the Everton keeper had done enough to shephard the little Mexican out away from his goal. It would appear though, nothing was to stop dos Santos at this time. He was forced to shuffle his way whilst running out of the penalty area past two US defenders before still without really looking at the goal and the mammoth task that faced him, he sent a picture-esque, elegant left footed chip over 3 States defenders and Tim Howard and rubber-stamped into the very top right hand corner of the net. Even if the little ex-Barcelona wizard had dared a look up to take in his situation, he probably would've been understood for him to perhaps retreat further back deeper into the USA half but no, without so much as a glance out the corner of his eye. The lob was the definition of perfect - you couldn't of painted it better - unfortunate not to take top spot.
1). Neymar - Santos 4-5 Flamengo - This years winner (in my book) goes to Mr Young Brazil himself - Neymar da Silva Santos Junior - or perhaps just Neymar. He too, like many before him in our list, didn't pick such a bad moment to net the goal of his dreams, big, big Brazilian Championship game Santos v Flamengo was made even bigger with the sheer ridiculousness of the score - 5-4 it finished, with this little genius netting the best of the night, the best in Brazil all year & the best in the world all year. In a goal that was created all by himself - he started the move crowded out left wing on the half way line, before a delightful shimmy started off the move - instantly eliminating 2 Flamengo midfiedlers from the situation. He then turns on that burning acceleration button and skips through the heart of the pitch, whilst laying it off to his striker partner and continuing his bursting run past more Flamengo midfielders who are trying their upmost to stop him by any means necessery, legal or not. With a first touch lay-off back into the surging future hope of Brazil's path - he again escaped the attendance of another grappling midfielder before picking out the most outragious piece of trickery you are likely to see all year - using both feet to truly bamboozle a poor Flamengo centre back- knocking it one side and then the other and then finally finding himself entering the Flamengo area in a lightning move that began all of 5 seconds ago with supreme pace and acceleration. Neymar finally showed composure Brazilianscthe likes of Ronaldo and Romario would've been proud of while despite receiving another foul in the shape of a nasty sliding challenge being able to dink an outside of the foot over the onrushing keeper. There wasn't a single attribute this goal didn't have - skill, technique, strength, pace, power, finishing ability - it literally had it all.
No doubt a controversial choice but my goal of 2011 - Neymar da Silva Santos Junior -'Take a bow son!'
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