Yesterday I stumbled upon that Moises Caicedo thunderbolt goal while scrolling through old match clips online. People lose their minds over that strike against Uruguay, right? Honestly, I hadn’t paid much attention before. Got me curious.
Finding the Clip and Obsessing
First thing, I hunted down the full clip. Took ages scrolling through endless football pages. Finally found one shaky fan video from behind the goal. Watched it once. Paused it. Rewound. Watched it again. And again. That shot. Man. How does a midfielder even hit the ball like that from that far out?
Grabbed my laptop, pulled up a tactical website showing player positions. Looked for exactly where Caicedo was when he received it. Zoomed way in on the blurry pitch map. Saw a tiny pixel labeled “15 Caicedo”. Wanted to see what led to it.
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Key things I checked:
- The build-up: 3 passes? 4? Where’d the turnover happen?
- Uruguay’s defense: Why was no one closing him down faster?
- Caicedo’s stance: How open was his body? How long did he take?
Trying to Recreate the Moment (Badly)
Thought, “Could I even try that myself?” Ha! Went down to the local pitch that afternoon. Had my brother play a similar pass to me around midfield. Tried to trap it, set myself, and just leather it towards the empty net.
My glorious attempts?
- First try: Skied it over the crossbar. Like, WAY over. Hit a tree.
- Second try: Ankle shot. Nearly took my brother’s head off.
- Third try: Managed to hit it low!… straight to him like a pass. Embarrassing.
Got maybe 1 shot out of 10 that even went towards goal. Nothing near the top corner Caicedo found. Leg felt like jelly afterwards. Realized how dumb that looked – a near 30-year-old pretending to be a Premier League star.
Breaking Down the Skill
Sat back down later, kinda sore, replayed the original goal on my phone. Slow motion. Freeze frame. Saw things I missed:
- The defender did lunge at him! Caicedo took that half-step away just before hitting it. Barely noticed it real-time.
- The ball bounced slightly before he struck it. Had to adjust his ankle on contact.
- The keeper? Rooted. Caught flat-footed. Maybe thought, “No way he’s shooting from here.”
Forget just power. The technique and balls needed for that strike… insane. That split-second decision to just hit it pure. Pressure of the game? Forget it. I barely managed against my bro.
Yeah, spent half my Saturday messing about trying to copy a moment of genius. Failed miserably. But hey, learned something? Probably. Just know one thing now – that Moises Caicedo goal against Uruguay? Pure class. Don’t care what anyone says.
