Faiz Subri became an overnight viral sensation when he scored a goal yesterday night that everybody claims to have defied the laws of Physics.
As the Penang FA attacking midfielder raced down the field and gave the ball a powerful kick, it seemed like he would not land the goal at all. That was probably why the look on his opponent’s face was that of shock and disbelief when he successfully scored a goal. This happened during the Super League clash at Stadium Bandaraya Pulau Pinang yesterday night during the 62nd minute.
The footballer’s viral kick against Team Pahang had fascinated football fans as it reminded them of another soccer superstar, Roberto Carlos. Roberto Carlos is a Brazilian footballer and he is known for his “banana free kick”, which is essentially just like what it sounds like. It does a bend just like the curvy shape of the banana round the field before finally finding its home sweet home in the goal netting. This is known as the “knuckleball” technique whereby the ball is shot from a distance, has no spin (or very low spin), and has erratic movement.
Hence, to see our very own display such precision and skill on the field is truly inspirational. Malaysian netizens are not the only ones raving about Faiz’s kick. He is even covered internationally by media giants like Sports Illustrated and Daily Mirror.
Following this, sports fans are asking that he be considered for the Puskas Award for 2016. The FIFA Puskas Award honours players who have scored the most beautiful goal of the year. Among some of the past winners include Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, so if one of our own Malaysian players are even considered for the prestigious award, it is a big deal indeed.
With the success of Ola Bola, our local movie which has scored more than RM12 million within 18 days of its release, perhaps 2016 for Malaysians really does revolve around the perfect score. As Rahman from Ola Bola puts it, “goal goal goal goal goal…”
Watch Faiz Subri’s amazing free kick below, and be prepared to click the replay button a few times.
And before our #UCL betting preview later – how about this from Faiz Subri! pic.twitter.com/fQMCzr4lo8 ???
— Run Down The Clock (@RunDownTheClock) February 16, 2016
While most are in shock and awe about his amazing feat, many have also expressed doubts over his skills and call it a fluke shot. The 29-year-old Penang footballer, however, is adamant about his training and said that as a striker, he has trained hard to perfect free kicks. He clarified at a press conference that when he had the ball in the match, his every intention was to make the shot and score.
Could be either skill, luck, or both; but it’s certainly not dark magic. The basic scientific explanation is that the aerodynamic lift forces that act on the smooth sphere fluctuate, which causes the ball to zigzag in its trajectory.
Faiz Subri is now world famous and has even received a RM10,000 cash reward from Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. FAP will also auction off the jersey, shorts, socks and boots that he wore in the match, each item signed by Faiz, at a reserve price of RM100,000 for the whole set.
As for what he thinks about being compared to Roberto Carlos? Faiz said, “How can I compete with someone like Roberto Carlos? The man is a legend.”
Well one day, maybe Faiz himself will be our own Malaysian legend.