Melbourne Heart’s Engelaar one-ups Wayne Rooney with long-distance goal

After Rooney struck a goal for Manchester United from just beyond the halfway line on Saturday, A-League striker Orlando Engelaar did it on Sunday from just behind the halfway line.

Wayne Rooney scored his goal from 58 yards out on Saturday. Julian Finney / Getty Images
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Everyone already knows about Wayne Rooney's ludicrous goal over the weekend, but apparently a day later in Australia's A-League a Dutch international did him one bettter.

Melbourne Heart (the A-League club recently purchased by Manchester City) striker Orlando Engelaar lofted his own shot from distinctly behind the halfway line and, much like Rooney's, it caught a goalkeeper out of place and bounced in. Check it out in the YouTube below.

Here’s the full story, via Agence France-Presse:

Not to be outdone by Wayne Rooney’s dazzling long-range goal at the weekend, Dutch international Orlando Engelaar scored with a wonder strike from even further away for A-League side Melbourne Heart.

Engelaar’s audacious effort, his fourth of the season for his club, was similar to Saturday’s breathtaking effort by Rooney, which came in a 2-0 win for Manchester United against West Ham in the Premier League.

But whereas the England international hit his shot from inside the West Ham half, Engelaar tried his luck from just inside his own half on Sunday.

The 14-time Dutch international glanced up and saw Central Coast Mariners goalkeeper Liam Reddy off his line before executing a shot that arrowed into the net just under the crossbar.

Mobbed by his teammates, he realised he had done something out of the ordinary.

“Yeah, of course, you realise right at that moment you have done something special, that’s nice to remember,” Engelaar said after his side lost 2-1.

“I already thought about it during the game. I was watching the keeper because I have been thinking about it for a while now and I spoke about it with my cousin. He told me to do it.

“So it’s been going through my mind, just waiting for the right moment, so the moment was there.”

Engelaar said there was an element of luck about his strike, which has become a hit on YouTube.

“It’s not something you practise, it’s just something you do and you try and see what happens,” he said.

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