Barcelona’s Luis Suarez scores off a back heel chip shot after a series of tiki taka give and goes. Have you ever seen a back heel chip like this? Perhaps only in a FIFA video game. What I love about Barcelona is that extra pass they make and then they just keep moving and always expect the soccer ball in return. Here, Frenkie de Jong thinks Suarez will play the ball back to him in front of the goal. And he probably could have but he thought why not try this back heel chip shot I do in training all the time….why not.
Suarez said: “It’s the best goal of my career. I knew that it was a tight angle and the last option I had was to hit it with my heel. I was looking to bounce it because I had very little chance against the goalkeeper. [Ernesto] Valverde tells me that sometimes I miss the easiest ones and score the most difficult ones.”
This back heel chip was an out and out surprise. A moment of brilliance by Suarez to recognize the goalkeeper is most likely going to be befuddled by all the tiki taka passes and not expect a back heel chip. Who would. Watch how Suarez gets under the ball with his heel to put it in the corner of the net. I think Barcelona mesmerize other teams with their short passing game and then throw a surprise out like this, catching them off guard. There were at least ten or eleven short passes before the goal.
Here’s a better video of Luis Suarez back heel chip shot. Ray Hudson with his call of the goal: “It’s not just a back heel. It’s a back heel chip. He gets his spoon out and gives it a big dollop.” And here’s NBC Sports Soccer with the early goal of the year in La Liga call: “It’s only December, but the Uruguayan’s goal is an automatic La Liga goal of the season contender.” How much mate tea did Suarez drink before the game to pull this off?