As if Edinson Cavani needs a larger claim to fame, it looks like the 23-year-old Uruguayan may have capped-off Sunday’s hat-trick with a diving back heel. Or not. It’s nearly impossible to tell from this video whether the Napoli man headed in Marek Hamsik’s 54th minute cross:
Five To Love - January 10, 2011: The Edinson Cavani Back Heel-Header Debate, Andres Iniesta’s A Peach, And Mark Van Bommel’s Illegal
Initially it seemed clear. Cavani dives onto the header, but wait for the angle starting at 1:07. It appears as if Cavani’s right leg is what sends the ball into the net.
Unfortunately Fortunately, that’s not where the story ends. Vote now and get more evidence, post-jump.
Debate amongst SB Nation Soccer editors led to the “no duh” idea of slowing the video so until we could capture a conclusive frame. Unfortunately the angle of the 1:07 replay makes it impossible to see when, exactly, the ball makes contact with the man. The closest we got is this:
The yellow thing below Zdenek Grygera’s foot? Right in front of Cavani’s head? That’s Hamsik’s descending cross, and although we don’t see the ball make contact with Cavani’s head, it would be almost impossible for the pass’s flight to reverse course and climb to an altitude that meet’s Cavani’s right heel (I can’t believe I’m typing this out). However, if Cavani’s header took a 25 degree (or so) angle toward goal relative to the ground, the angle the footage is shot from would make it appear as if his heel hit the ball. Given where Cavani’s head is at in the shot, if the ball made contact at this point, it would likely go up and away from his head, just as the goal did.
Now, watch again:
Of course, somebody could always just ask Edinson, but what fun would that be? As long as this is inconclusive, there’s a chance it was a back heel. So no more questions. Fire up YouTube. Be prepared to hit replay. Enjoy.
2. Arsene Wenger is World Coach of the Decade
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics ranks Estudiantes de la Plata, Atlético Madrid and Liverpool amongst its top 10 clubs in the world. I mention that as context for today's news that Arsène Wenger was named World Coach of the Decade by IFFHS, beating out Alex Ferguson and José Mourinho. Rather than rely on a formula (as they do for the club rankings), IFFHS aggregated a number of polls to come to this decision, and while this vote may reflect a more altruistic than practical sentiment, Arsène Wenger was undoubtedly one of the top managers of the aughts.
3. Andrés Iniesta congratulates Leo Messi
Muchas felicidades Leo!! Ha sido una noche muy especial!
Andrés Iniesta
andresiniesta8
Nothing salacious. Just nice to see. Andrés Iniesta is reported to be one of the nicest footballers in Europe. That energy comes across on his Twitter, so it's no surprise to see Lionel Messi's teammate go public with his felicidades in the wake of today's announcement.
It’s also nice to see Andrés call Messi “Leo.” I’d always wondered what his friends called him.
4. Who voted for who
FIFA's released the voting for the Ballon d'Or (PDF) - the individual ballots from each country's captain, coach and selected media representative. If you don't take them too seriously, the ballots are fun to peruse. If you do, you'll quickly become annoyed that Arsenal defender (and Belgium captain) Thomas Vermaelen voted for Gunners' teammate Cesc Fabregas.
Most other curiosities were less flagrant. Sami Hyppia voted for Carles Puyol. Mario Yepes voted for Xabi Alonso. And not surprisingly, Mark van Bommel's vote was deemed illegal.
5. Four Four Two’s Performance Blog
I’d heard about this blog a while ago, but amidst the season and the world’s innumerable soccer leagues, I’d forgotten that FourFourTwo magazine had launched the blog Performance. There you can read Xavi Hernández’s thoughts on playmaking. You can get advice from Zlatan Ibrahimovic on how to play the target man’s role. Rafael van der Vaart walks you through volleying technique who Jermain Defoe outlines the striker’s responsibilities.
Performance has also gotten contributions from Rio Ferdinand, Diego Forlán, Ashley Cole, Andrés Iniesta, Radamel Falcão, Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Glen Johnson. How did I forget about this?
Are there stories from the soccer world that are captivating you? Share, laugh, rant, vent. Flood the comments and give us a reason to put your contribution in the next Five to Love.
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