The essential elements that make up the beauty of a goal from the halfway line
Aside from a crisply-struck volley - possibly on the bounce - striking the underside of the bar before going in, few footballing sights provide more pleasure than seeing a goal scored from the seemingly impossible distance of the halfway line.
Often speculative and agricultural, occasionally pristinely-struck: no long-range strikes inspires a greater sense of awe and wonder than 50-metre effort.
The pleasure taken from scoring from the half-way line was exemplified by Wayne Rooney, who called his third, hat-trick-clinching goal 'one of the best he's ever scored'. "I think I hit it as well as I've ever hit a football," he added.
But what makes these rare efforts so satisfying to players and fans alike? We deconstruct the essential elements that make up the beauty of a goal from the halfway line.
Audacity
It takes a certain type of character to believe they're capable of beating a professional goalkeeper from distance.
When David Beckham took to the field for Manchester United's first game of the 1996/97 season he was wearing the iconic number 10 shirt for the first time since Mark Hughes' departure.
Rather than feel over-awed by the weight of the shirt, Beckham gave an early indication of his global-superstar potential with a spectacular effort that came to define his career.
After Brian McClair nipped-in to dispossess Robbie Earl 40 yards out from Manchester United's own goal, the loose ball edged towards Beckham with a counter attack on the cards.
The sensible thing to do would have been to play the ball up towards Jordi Cruyff, who has spun off his marker and dropped deep to receive the ball just inside Wimbledon's half.
Instead the curtain-haired future England captain allowed the ball to roll past him before effortlessly clipping the ball over Neil Sullivan's lolling head.
The exuberance of youth.
Trajectory
Much like the marvel of a perfectly-struck golf shot 200 yards out from the pin, the effort from half-way is made all the more pleasurable for its physics-defying trajectory.
On the one hand you have Dejan Stankovic's 45-yard volley for Inter Milan in the Champions League: the golfing-equivalent of a 3-iron punch; hit with such a effortless force that the ball rarely rises above the line of the crossbar before reaching the back of the net.
On the other you have the looping effort. The shot that seems to briefly leave the confines of the stadium, threatening to breach the earth's atmosphere before plummeting back down over the head of the back-peddling goalkeeper.
Think Nayim's Cup Winners' Cup volley against Arsenal and the tragic sight of David Seaman lying prostrate on the goalmouth.
Stupidity
Attempting to score a goal from 50 metres out is not in the coaching manual.
In every famous example of a memorable long-range goal, the decision to attempt the impossible has always been the wrong one.
Hat-trick or no hat-trick, Wayne Rooney should really have played in Tom Davies, who was wide-open with a clearer line of sight to the goal.
But who wants to see correct when you can see the miracle of a long-range goal?
Goalkeeper panic
Maybe it's something to do with those agonising few seconds when you know you're in the process of being humiliated in such spectacular fashion, but these goals invariably tend to feature a flapping, floundering goalkeeper trying in vain to salvage their professional integrity.
As Xabi Alonso's 60-yard strike made its unerring way towards Steve Harper's net, the Newcastle goalkeeper had a minor meltdown that seemed to span hours.
Harper reflects on the goal like a adult recalling the death of a childhood pet underneath the wheels of a car.
"I was around the penalty spot. I had a full look at the ball, I saw him hit it, I back-pedalled and I could have chested it down. But I just lost my footing and I couldn't recover," he said.
Alonso's effort was all the more special for one Liverpool fan who placed a £200 bet on the Spaniard scoring from inside his own half after a dream he had.
