A year to the day after Riley McGree lit up the Hyundai A-League with his outrageous scorpion-kick goal against Melbourne City, Wollongong Wolves defender Nikola Djordjevic has done his best to outdo the feat in Round 8 of the NSW National Premier Leagues competition.
McGree became the talk of world football on 27 April 2018, after his 57th-minute strike that levelled the scores for Newcastle Jets against City in last season’s Hyundai A-League semi-final.
The then 19-year-old McGree reacted quickly when a lofted pass from Ronny Vargas fell slightly behind him and launched a back-heeled flick from the edge of the area that looped over the head of stranded City keeper Dean Bouzanis.
Feature image courtesy of Photos by loopii / Football NSW
McGree’s sensational strike was later nominated for the 2018 FIFA Puskas Award, where he went head-to-head against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mo Salah and Gareth Bale to determine the planet’s greatest goal of 2018.
Fast forward 365 days, and Djordjevic launched his own assault on the viral-video world with this incredible acrobatic effort away to Sutherland Sharks on Saturday, levelling the scores at 1-1 in the first half.
There seemed little danger when a ball was swung into the Sutherland Sharks’ penalty area from the left flank, but the Wolves defender (defender!) had other ideas, launching into the air to pull-off an astonishing back-flick overhead effort with his left foot to steer the ball home.
Might be worth another look from the Puskas Award pundits?
