DIRECT FROM A CORNER

Supporting the local club, Hepworth United, play in a cup match this afternoon, I watched a dozen or more corners being taken aided (or not) in a more than gusty down pitch wind. Some corners were testing for all players, all of whom tried to get something on the ball. Possibly a flick on at the near post, a big header from a defending centre back with both goalkeepers pinned inside their six yard box. No goals came from the corner, no goals came from well delivered free kicks, I didn't see one long throw, there were very few direct shots on goal.

The wind clearly did not help the players, the only goal of the game came in the final minutes from open play and that disputed by the opposition for offside. Hepworth won.

Whilst the wind can be an advantage, football is hard to play under such challenging conditions.

So I thought about in-swinging corners. This is known as an Olympic goal in South America. On October 2nd 1924, Uruguay won the Olympic tournament in Amsterdam and returned to play a friendly against neighbours Argentina, who scored a goal in such fashion. Cesareo Onzari, a left footed player, scored direct from a corner, the first time this had been recorded in football history, apparently. See below.

The Uruguayans complained about their goalie being impeded and then blamed the wind.

Scoring straight from a corner had only been made legal in August 1924 but FIFA said that this was not the first Olympic goal stating that a Scottish player, Billy Alston had scored in a Second Division game in late August. 

Inspired by the Latin's achievement, Juan Ernesto Cochoco Alvarez, a Colombian, managed 8 Olympic goals in six seasons, for his club, Deportivo Cali. Two came in the same game. His secret being "practise".

Anibal Francisco Cibeyra scored in three Olympic goals in the 1970s for Ecuadoran club Emelec in successsive derbies against Barcelona de Guayaquil.

Bernd Nickel playing for Eintracht Frankfurt achieved the feat from each of four corners of the ground, not necessarily in the same match!

Morten Gamst Pedersen, in Norwegian junior football, scored six in one match and Charles Tully in 1953 scored directly for Celtic against Falkirk and when this was disallowed because the ball was not in the arc, he took another and scored direct again.

Turkish striker Sukur Gulesin managed 32 goals between 1940 to 1954 taking corners from both sides of the pitch although he was left footed.

Megan Rapinoe for the USA women's team, scored in the 2012 London Olympic semi-final, in her team's victory, truly an Olympic goal.

These were not all wind assisted, probably just good technique.....or luck?