An Ode To Jamie Vardy’s Goal For Leicester City Against West Brom

Why do we watch football? It’s a question that is often asked.

Some people, when they are trying to put down the sport we love, suggest that football is just people kicking a bag of air around a field. Which, in some sense, is true. However, we all know that it is much more than that, it is, as Arrigo Sacchi once put it:

the most important of lives least important things.

There are so many things to love and adore about the beautiful game.

Many watch it for the thrill of betting, because they love being able to watch and predict what is going to happen and then make money from it. They love that amazing feeling of going to a website like Sbat, reading great tips and then making an informed bet before enjoying the fruits of their labour paying off. There is something magical about watching a football match when you have money on it.

For others, they love watching their team win. There’s something about the kinship and the sense of belonging that comes with watching your team play well and win a match. It might be something about the fact it is often passed down, from family to family, from person to person. In some cases, it is all about watching people do something well. Footballers are the best of the best, what they can do with a ball at their feet often seems like a form of black magic, of dark arts, it makes us gasp and makes us fall in love all over again.

A lot of people get this when they are watching players like Lionel Messi or Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, a stunning goal or a brilliant reflex save can restore your faith in football. There was a moment like this in Leicester City’s win over West Brom, a play that left draws dropped and fans cheering like mad. Riyad Mahrez, a player who can inspire moments of wonder, played a precision pass over the top of the West Brom defence. It was like a homing missile, perfectly aimed and directed towards his telepathic partner England’s Jamie Vardy.

The long ball went high up into the air, it flew and hung for sometime, it looked like it was destined for Vardy to chase, it was vintage Leicester City, the kind of thing you saw when they won the title back in 2016. Vardy let it drop over his shoulder, watching the ball all the way, he could not possibly have looked to see the goal or where he was in reaction to it. There wasn’t time to stop and think, he just had to use instinct.

He struck it with his ‘wrong’ foot, his left, and it flew perfectly into the corner. It was beautiful, it was magic and it’s what professional football is all about. We fall in love with football for moments like these and it was great to watch. I hope more moments are to come this season and at the summer’s World Cup.

Leave a Reply