18 Sep 2006(Mon)

Tokyo, September 15, 2006: Did you watch the Manchester United-Celtic match in the Champions League the other night?

What a great game -- and what a great goal from Shunsuke Nakamura.

It was, inevitably, a free kick, and had to be special to beat a keeper of Edwin van der Sar's quality and height from some 25 metres.

I saw the game for the first time on TV on Thursday evening, but had read about it earlier in the day. The report I read said that Shunsuke's free kick went into the top corner of the net, so I had a vision of the goal in my mind before settling down to watch it.

But it didn't go into the top corner at all -- and that is why the Sky TV commentators, Martin Tyler and Andy Gray, were so enthusiastic about it.

Shunsuke did not perform a Michel Platini-style "falling leaf" free kick, lofting the ball high over the wall and then bringing it down sharply under the crossbar, like a leaf falling to the ground almost vertically.

He struck it quite flat, just clearing United's defensive wall, and the ball entered the net halfway up -- or halfway down, whichever way you want to see it.

Van der Sar did not see it all, and was rooted to the spot like a tree (a Dutch elm, maybe?) at the other side of the goal.

Before he took the free kick, Tyler referred to Shunsuke as "an artist" at set-pieces, and after the goal he quickly added, "the artist has painted another masterpiece!" Great stuff!

Gray noted the low flight of the ball, and also criticised United striker Louis Saha for not jumping up in the wall and taking the ball in his face! Gray, after all, was a classic British centre forward: rough, tough and as Scottish as a plate of haggis eaten while listening to a lone bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace".

Later in the match, with United leading 3-2 and Celtic pushing for an equaliser, Tyler said that Celtic were within "one swish of Nakamura's left foot" from scoring again, if they could only get another free kick around the box.

That's a lovely word, "swish", to describe Shunsuke's action, again like a painter with his fluid but gentle brush stroke.

A memorable goal by Shunsuke, a memorable game to showcase the appeal of British football...but it was never a United penalty for Celtic keeper Boruc's challenge, or, rather, non-challenge, on Giggs.

ends