So, those of you who read other blogs may be aware of this: our friends at Samsung have sponsored a “Favorite Highlight” campaign. Bloggers are digging through old videos to try to find plays/moments/highlights that they remember particularly fondly. In trying to decide what sort of Bayern highlight would be best, I had to think very hard.
Except, not really …
The two obviously great things about it:
(1) An amazing goal from Robben from an impossible volley, and
(2) Beating Manchester United to send Bayern to the Champions League semi-finals.
But, upon watching it again, a number of additional things come through:
– Ribery sent the corner probably 50 yards in the air, with no bend, and put it right on Robben’s boot. Usually a corner has either an in-swing or an out-swing. This one just went straight forward in a parabolic arc.
– It almost hit 3 people on the way in: Carrick, Gomez, and van der Sar. If the ball makes contact with any of them, it doesn’t go in and Bayern might be headed home. Instead, it wriggles past everyone and sneaks inside the post by a few inches.
– Robben’s celebration – I think it’s sort of a combination of “where are your chants and cheers now, Man U fans?” and “ooooo, I’m just so HOT!” Doubly funny because you can see his breath.
– The large contingent of away fans in red, celebrating wildly. You can see exactly where the Bayern supporters’ section ends. On the other side of that, a bunch of Man U fans sitting quietly and grumbling.
– Looks like Olic and Gomez were both on the field? I’m still annoyed Heynckes never gave that a shot.
– It’s great to see Robben joyfully celebrating with everyone. It’s easy to lose sight of it, but when he’s healthy and cranked-up, he’s one of the most explosive players in the world.
Anyone else care to weigh in with a particularly great clip or highlight? Let’s hear it in the comments. And thanks to Samsung for putting it all together.