What’s perhaps most amazing about this Darlington Nagbe first time volley with the inside of his foot is the height of the ball that he’s striking. The ball is up above the stadium almost. The soccer ball comes down from above the stadium – out in the air hovering over the stadium for a brief moment. It’s in the air a long time. It’s outside of the video from for a period of time before it comes down and back into the stadium. Nagbe is outside the video frame too.
In the image at the top of this page Nagbe isn’t even in the frame yet. See the soccer ball in that red circle. Yeah, it’s way up there.
Here’s the commentary from ESPN’s feed about the goal. No mention of the ball falling out of the sky in the 75 minute though. It’s a bit too sedate for where the ball is coming from in the sky: “Goal! Columbus Crew 3, D.C. United 0. Darlington Nagbe (Columbus Crew) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner following a corner.”
It’s just a crazy attempt by Nagbe, right. But I guess he’s like, why not, and maybe that’s why he attempts it not with the instep but with the inside of his foot. So he has a bit more control.
The ball is still up in the air. Nagbe is out of the frame waiting for the soccer ball to fall to him. He’s still eyeing upwards. Waiting a pretty long time for the ball to fall to him. And Nagbe has done this before when he played for the Portland Timbers. Well, a first time juggle like volley but not from such a great height. Give him more than one point for this goal.
Oh, my Darlington Nagbe. 😍
He catches the volley perfectly and #Crew96 increase their lead. pic.twitter.com/4BApuu8bJN
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 1, 2022
What’s more, Nagbe has also flicked the ball up to himself and scored on the volley from a great distance. Kind of insane, really, the quality of this goal.
In the 81st minute Darlington Nagbe had this absolutely perfectly hit, highlight-reel golazo from distance past Shuttleworth.
