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Extended Clip - Inter Milan Star Federico Dimarco vs Frosinone: The Best Lob Goal Of All Time? (Ep. 377)
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After scoring a wondergoal when Inter Milan beat Frosinone in the Serie A, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese discuss, debate and contextualize where the lob by Federico Dimarco ranks in history of the greatest goals from the halfway line: from David Beckham to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Maradona.
This is an extended clip from this weeks free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Frosinone vs Inter Match Overview
00:00:05
Speaker
Let's move on to Frosinone versus Inter.
Federico Di Marco's Goal Highlight
00:00:09
Speaker
And there's only one place to start, is the Federico Di Marco Wonder goal.
History of Lobbed Goals
00:00:14
Speaker
I mean, I've been watching Italian football all my life. And there's been some amazing goals, amazing lobbed goals. And we'll come on to where that ranks in a bit.
Did Di Marco Intend the Goal?
00:00:25
Speaker
But let's just get with it. I mean, first of all, let me just let me describe the goal first for those of you who I'm sure you've all seen it. But DiMarco picks up the ball just inside the frosting on a half way out on the left by the left touch line. And he lobs the goalkeeper to a party.
00:00:45
Speaker
over him and Toretti's not even that far off his line.
Player Reactions and Banter
00:00:49
Speaker
I mean, it's just an absolutely insane goal. But first of all, because there's been some debate, including from our good friend Patrick Kendrick, who people asking the question, first of all, did he mean it? Nima, what do you think?
00:01:07
Speaker
I think it was very funny because after the game, he was asked about it, and he says, look, I first look up and see the dumb frees. Or first I look up and see that the goalkeeper's down. Then I see dumb frees. And then I decide I'm going to go for it.
Comparisons to Ronaldinho's Skills
00:01:22
Speaker
Afterwards, Mikitarian says, no, no, of course he didn't mean it. We all know that he meant to cross it for dumb frees. So there's a little bit of in banter inside Inter as well about that.
00:01:31
Speaker
But I think he meant it. I mean, I think Ronaldinho meant it, too, back when he did it. And the reason why, you know, I think there's a video that you can see that he actually does look up at the goalkeeper and then looks down and then looks over to see where Dunford is before he hits it. And to me, I think, yes, he's going for it. But I don't think he intended for the ball to have the
00:02:00
Speaker
the the trajectory it did because this looks like this is this isn't a chip this is a shot if you know what i mean like this is a it's not like he's chipping it he he shoots it and i think he didn't i think he meant to chip it more than than than what it became but i do think yes look this isn't this is for the record in marco we're talking about this isn't the first time he scores wonder goals on rockets with his left foot whether they be free kicks whether they be crosses whether they be
00:02:29
Speaker
This happens often with him, and therefore you have to understand and give credit where credit is given. This was a cherby, or I would say, yeah, no, there's no chance in hell he meant that. I would say there's no way in hell he meant that. But if it's DiMarco and you've seen him do that time and stuff like that time and time again,
Techniques and Execution in Football
00:02:50
Speaker
well...
00:02:50
Speaker
Well, when I saw it first live, I was 100% sure he definitely meant it. Also because of the way that he kicked it. Like you don't kick the ball like that with, you know, and it kind of went in a straight line. Yeah, that's what I mean. You don't, you know, there wasn't, you know, it wasn't a curve. You know, I think I thought I was certain he meant it at the time. Then, of course, you know, I'm winding up Patrick Kendrick on WhatsApp about the goal.
00:03:18
Speaker
So he sends me a video trying to prove that he didn't. Well, not necessarily trying to prove he didn't mean it, but at least raising the question, did he mean it? Now in the video, the ball gets passed by Macatarian to DeMarco. Now in the video that I've got, I don't see
00:03:36
Speaker
he looks up, he doesn't look up. He looks up quickly, you can say but when he gets the ball he looks up quickly then he looks down because he sent me the same video and then he goes up and then he looks and then he
Skill Level in Lobbed Goals
00:03:48
Speaker
goes for like a second and then he looks over to Dumfries and then he shoots it.
00:03:54
Speaker
I don't, I listen that the video doesn't prove that he didn't mean it in terms of where he's looking, because there's a thing called peripheral vision with all the great footballers have and all footballs, what humans have, but the great, the great, the great.
00:04:12
Speaker
I hope you've got that too. No, but the great players are able to use their peripheral vision. Some people don't have the awareness to be able to use their peripheral vision. I mean, you know, some players have peripheral vision, you know, you would say eyes in the back of their head. That means you have the awareness of just feeling who is around you, you know, when you're on the football pitch.
00:04:30
Speaker
And that's why the great players can do like Totti would be able to do back heels. And you think, how did they see that player behind him? Or they just felt it with their, you know, they just felt it because they've got the peripheral vision and the ability to feel who is, who is around and behind them. So that doesn't mean anything because he would have had that in his peripheral vision. He would have been able to see that the goalkeeper was off his life. The only thing that raises the question maybe that he didn't mean it is if you look at when he kicks the ball,
00:04:57
Speaker
he's slightly off balance when he kicks it. And his left leg kind of extends in a way that you wouldn't expect it to extend by how he was gearing up to kick the ball, if that makes sense. So that's the only thing that you would maybe raise a
Di Marco vs Beckham's Style
00:05:16
Speaker
question. But ultimately, in order to score the goal, you have to kick it like that.
00:05:22
Speaker
You know, it's one of those which we'll never know 100%, only DeMarco will know 100% whether he meant it. But I'm veering towards that he did mean it, because I know that this is what he's capable of. Yeah. No, I think he did mean it. I just don't think he meant it. I don't think that Ronaldinho meant it, though.
00:05:40
Speaker
No, I don't think we're going to do it. And I'll tell you what, because when Ronaldinho did it, there's loads of plays in the box. So there's a reason to put the ball into that area. Whereas with DiMarco, I mean, that would have to be, for DiMarco to not mean to score that goal, that would have to be one of the worst over-hit balls ever. And DiMarco doesn't do over-hit crosses that badly very often.
00:06:04
Speaker
I mean, Taram is miles away from it, and he would also, in order to pass it to Taram, he'd have had to curl it to Taram. He wouldn't have done a flat shot, a flat kick, which is what he did. So this would have had to have been a massive missed kick, because he's not curled this ball. He's hit it with his instep, and he's hit it straight. To get the ball to Taram, he would have had to curl that. He'd have to whip that round to get it to Taram. So that's also what makes me think that he did mean it, because you have to kick it this way, straight, for it to go in.
00:06:34
Speaker
Um, so, so yeah, I mean, I think, listen, I think it's an amazing goal.
Greatest Lob Goals Ranking
00:06:39
Speaker
Let me just say one other thing. Who was it? Remind me, who was it that compared to the market? You did say, and I remember I was saying, I think that's a good comparison because they are similar styles of players. They, they weren't very quick. They couldn't beat their men for pace. They weren't fantastic dribblers, but they had an unbelievable touch.
00:07:00
Speaker
his right foot is one of the greatest right feet ever in football, and this guy's left foot is ridiculous. He can do whatever he wants. He can put it wherever he wants. Wherever he wants. I mean, the crosses, the shots, the
00:07:16
Speaker
the free kicks, everything. They both have that from the left and from the right. I think that was a very astute comparison in terms of the style of player that they are. But of course, you have to remember that David Beckham, we can't compare their careers yet because Beckham had a far more illustrious career.
00:07:40
Speaker
did bigger things at a bigger stage than Bimarco has had. But yeah, I think in terms of the style of player, they are similar. Just in terms of the foot, that's more than anything because what I'm comparing it. He's got a left foot like Beckham had a right foot. That's really where the comparison is. I mean, it's unbelievable what he can do with this left foot. But one thing I want to do, though, is where does this lob rank?
00:08:08
Speaker
among the greatest lobs in not only Italian football history but in football history because I really do believe that this is this is up there with the best of all time and I and I and I had a little and I spoke to a few people as well and I put it on twitter as well asking for people and I got sent in some really good really good suggestions from from everyone and those of you listening you know I'd love to hear any other suggestions that
Famous Lobs in History
00:08:31
Speaker
you've got
00:08:31
Speaker
Obviously, we start off with Beckham, because we're just talking about the Beckham lob against Wimbledon in 1996, which was fantastic from the halfway line. From Italian football, though, the Ricoba one against Empoli was amazing. Obviously, Stankovic, a lot of interplayers doing lobs. Stankovic against Schalke, which was a great volley. That was unbelievable, and he meant that.
00:08:58
Speaker
Oh, there's no discussion there. Yeah. And he did that like he scored quite a few screamers as well. Yeah. And then you've got Micoli against Palermo that I remember. Quagliarella definitely had one as well for around 15 years ago. I've got to forget in the team. And then obviously Maradona, Maradona had a couple of that. I got a call by against Empoli for me is the one that sticks out is just
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah, Maradona had a couple of amazing ones. That's not, but this is the thing, that's a kukayo, that's a chip lob. Like for me, you can't compare, like, Totti's against Inter. I'm not counting Totti, that is a chip. I mean, I think it depends how far out it is. Haji in the 94, USA 94, that is more comparative to the DiMarco one.
Debate: Greatest Lob Goals Ever
00:09:43
Speaker
I think. Poborsky, in Euro 96, that's a chip. Do you know what I mean? Like the way that he lobs it over. So I think for me, the ones that I compare to is the Beckham one, the Haji one, the Ronaldinho one. The Ronaldinho one against England. Yeah, the Ronaldinho one against England in 2002 World Cup, which I think was a fleet personally, but yeah, we can't prove it 100%. Patrick Sheik as well.
00:10:10
Speaker
Yeah, Schick against Scotland was a fantastic one. The two that really stand out for me, there's only two that I would say are on the same level as DeMarco's and that is Naeem Pizalagossa against Arsenal in the Cup Winners' Cup Final in 1995. And this was the last minute of extra time with a score at 1-1 to win the Cup Winners' Cup.
00:10:33
Speaker
which was a big European cup at the time, to beat Arsenal. So this was like, if you're talking about the most important and most decisive lob ever, then it's naive. I mean, I think for the difficulty level, and I'll come on to the democracy difficulty level in a second,
00:10:51
Speaker
I think it's got to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic. That to me is something else. That stands in its own, because that's not a lob. Who does a bicycle kick 35-year-old? Well, it is. It's a bicycle kick lob. It's a bicycle kick lob, which is what makes it... I mean, for me, having sat back and thought about it, I think that's the greatest of all time, because the difficulty level is unbelievable. It's not. It's a bicycle kick lob from a ridiculous angle. I mean, it's just... 34, 35 meters out. I mean, it's just unbelievable.
00:11:20
Speaker
It's insane. But what makes DeMarco so special is that it is the difficulty level. I mean, it's much easier to score a lob from number one, from a central position and number two, from a static position, which a lot of these lobs are, you know, from more central positions. Even the back and one was slightly to the right, but it was from a central position and it's from a static position. It's much, much easier, much easier to connect, especially if you've got control of the ball. When you're on the run,
00:11:48
Speaker
It's so much more difficult just for the balance point of view and the connection point of view. And you've seen how you're kind of half-lost balance anyway. But also, this is way out on the touchline. I mean, it's a ridiculous angle. I mean, it's like, in rugby terms, it's like trying to do a conversion from the center or trying to do a conversion from the touchline. While you're trying to do a conversion from the touchline, the difficulty level is infinitely harder, which is why not so many get them from the touchline. So it's just the difficulty level here.
00:12:16
Speaker
is, other than Zlatan's, because of the acrobatic nature, I mean, this is from a difficulty level, this is the hardest thing ever.
Pele's Legendary Attempt
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, but I mean, for me, the greatest chip-lob ever, Maradona against Verona and Lazio, that is truly unbelievable. Go back and watch that. From where he does it, how he does it, the situation, I mean, one man wrecking crew, that guy.
00:12:45
Speaker
Oh yeah, that was amazing. But the other thing to consider is also how far the goalkeeper's off his line. The goalkeeper's quite far off his line, which makes it a lot easier. But for DiMarco's goal, I mean, the goalkeeper's barely off his line. He's only, like, only what? Only six yard box? I mean, that's the other thing that makes it really, really difficult and also makes it ridiculous to even try it when the goalkeeper is, you know, really not very far off his line.
00:13:08
Speaker
So there's that and that's what all adds up to make me think that, you know, this is definitely this is top three of all time unless somebody can prove that he didn't mean it and I wouldn't count them in fluorescence. There's also fluorescence against Barcelona, which I think was a fool, which I don't think he meant either. So when you know, if you can prove they don't mean it, then I would discount them all together. But obviously, that's very difficult to do. I think here, like I say, I think he meant it. But I don't think he meant the trajectory of the ball to go like that. I think he meant more.
00:13:36
Speaker
He went, he wanted it more to be a lob. This was a shot more. Do you know what I mean? Like to me, this was in a lob. This was more, I think he missed kicked it in the sense that I think he wanted to lob it, but it became a shot instead. And it was, it just went like a rocket. That's the thing. I mean, it was, it was just truly unbelievable. I think it was more similar to Naeem in that situation in the sense that he didn't lob, but he just, he went for it. It was a rocket shot.
00:14:04
Speaker
And then it just went like a missile and had that trajectory. And yeah, no, it was it was truly unbelievable. It was amazing. The only other one I want to mention is Pele against Czechoslovakia, but he didn't go in. This is the greatest lob that never that didn't go in the goal. And for two reasons. Number one, the footballs that they used back in the 1970 World Cup were like bags of cement. I mean, like they were so hard, like even the idea like
00:14:33
Speaker
of, of, I mean, you used to get your foot. Yeah, you used to get so I mean, literally used to break. I mean, that's why so many players that used to head the ball a lot back in the 60s and 70s, you know, gut brain injuries, I mean, died of, you know, got Alzheimer's and, and, you know, these kind of Parkinson's, you know, because because they headed the ball so much now. And they were horrible. Back then, only a few people in world football could score long shots because the balls were so hard. Like you couldn't people couldn't kick the ball.
00:15:00
Speaker
hard and high from long range because the balls were so hard. Pele did try to lock the goal from the half foot. The goal would keep him from half wide and he went inches wide. All this was at a time when no one would even dream of thinking of doing. That's how far ahead Pele was of the rest of the world. I have to give a shout out for that, but it didn't come in. It doesn't count, but it was amazing. It was absolutely amazing.