BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

Meeting Marco

Jake Humphrey
6 Jun 08, 01:15 PM

Vienna

Exactly as I expected, 'The Football Focus Marco van Basten Award for the Second Best Euro Goal Ever' has split you guys every which way!

Some of you, like UKNavajo, are adamant Gazza deserves it whilst the likes of ShunsukeNakamura25 seems to disagree somewhat! A fair chunk of you were impressed by Poborsky's and Brolin's efforts, while Ray Houghton and Figo both got mentions. But Gazza's cheeky chip and volley seems to shade the votes as the second best ever at this stage.

Interesting to note the almost non-existent comments questioning whether Van Basten deserves top spot...on that we all seem agreed.

As much as there has been debate about the goals, there has been quite a bit of intrigue about whether we'll actually get hold of Marco and, if we do, how he will react to being asked to crown the second best strike.

In my last blog, we quizzed the Dutch press team about the chances of me getting to the man himself. The answer was pretty simple, if you get yourself to our training ground you can chance your arm.

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So Marco and Dirk Kuyt both seem to agree that 'that strike' in 88 is the best ever, and I must admit I'm not surprised Marco wants a little more time to decide on second spot.

He had just finished his first session with the squad in Lausanne and was being bombarded with questions about the fitness of Van Persie (in training but not match fit) and whether his side have the firepower to succeed (he seems to think so).

He seemed intrigued by the topic, and I'm pretty sure over the coming weeks we will get the definitive answer we're looking for!

In the meantime, let me know what strike you think Marco will plump for. Can Dirk, after a pretty barren season for Liverpool, do the business and steal Marco's crown. And is there a goal that has slipped our attention altogether?

Jake (who is desperate for the games to get under way here in Austria)

Jake Humphrey is a presenter, working on Football Focus, Match Of The Day and Score. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

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Comments

1. At 1:36pm on 06 Jun 2008, Tomstamford wrote:
Maniche's goal v England was top notch. I have a feeling theres gonna be more attempts like that this year, what with the swinging ball and long-distance experts such as Ronaldo, Ballack, Villa, et al. And all the Croatia players of course!!

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2. At 2:13pm on 06 Jun 2008, Alex wrote:
What do you mean "almost non-existent comments questioning whether Van Basten deserves top spot."? There were quite a few, mostly who considered his goal to be a fluke, a "one in a million" strike that just happened to work on that occasion, or even a cross that went (not so) wrong.

Also, why no mention of Suker? His, I believe, was technically the best and up there with Houghton. Gazza would never have scored that goal against a top defender, which Colin Hendry certainly was not.

I do not usually give too much credit to long range strikes as they are very much "hit and hope", chance goals. Also, most people agreed that Figo's goal was deflected, so his does not even get in the top 10.

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3. At 6:28pm on 06 Jun 2008, inoutsider wrote:
Good job getting hold of van Basten Jake, I'm curious as to which goal he will pick since I really have no idea, though I doubt he'll have the time to check them out during the Euros, unless you figure out a way to show him yourself.
Enjoy the matches!

@ 2. van Basten's volley goal was perhaps a one-in-a-few-million strike, he did mean to score it, as he has often said before. At the time he took the shot he couldn't have known it would go in so flawlessly, but the intention to score from that angle was there, so it definately wasn't a fluke goal :-).

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4. At 1:04pm on 07 Jun 2008, angelickenny wrote:
the best goal i have ever seen, alessandro del piero,i think 1995,juventus winner after being 2-0 down to fiorentina,with 20 mins left,

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5. At 9:45pm on 10 Jun 2008, andy2506 wrote:
I thought Van Bastens first goal against England was a gem. Guillit crossed in from the the left, Van Basten with his back to goal controlled the ball with his left foot, then spun left 360 turning the defender inside out and then stuck the ball in the corner with his left. Technically brilliant. But, overall I guess Gazza's was more spectacular.

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