Football is all about scoring goals. Every club, team and league in the world recognises the players who score the highest number of goals in a game, season and career. Leading goal scorers are the super heroes of the sport, the men idolised by managers, fans and fellow players.
It’s not only about statistics; it’s the way the goals are scored that adds that special x-factor. Football is after all the ‘beautiful game’.
A slow, skilled and tactical approach to goal scoring is cerebral and great to watch. However, there’s nothing more thrilling than a strike that happens seconds into a match.
Sometimes the quickest goals are flukes but more often than not they’re wizardry in motion.
Fastest Goals World-Wide
No matter where you are in the world the fastest-ever goal is the stuff of legends. In Kenya the late Joe Kadenge is revered as a footballer who scored the quickest in the Kenya Premier League.
Gustavo Ramirez of Paraguay hit the back of the net just 4 seconds into a match between Mineros de Zacatecas and Necaxa in Mexico.
Even that impressive statistic was shattered when a young Brazilian, Frederico Chaves Guedes slotted in the opener for America Mineiro in a blistering 3,17 seconds!
In England’s top flight it’s taken a little ‘longer’ to fluster unsuspecting opponents. Right now, the fastest goal in the EPL took just 7,69 seconds. Will the
English Premier League 2019/20 produce a new record? That’s anyone’s guess!
In the meantime, let’s take a look at the three quickest goals ever scored in the EPL:
Alan Shearer - 10,52 seconds
Former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the EPL. He holds the club and league record for the most goals. He also shares the record for achieving 11 hat-tricks in the Premier League.
In January 2003 Shearer needed only 10 seconds to give former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan the middle finger. The burly striker shadowed former team mate Steve Howey as he clipped the ball back to stand-in goalie Carlo Nash.
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That’s when it all went pear shaped for Manchester City. Nash mangled the clearance; an effervescent Shearer charged the ball down and neatly slotted it into the back of the net!
The end result? Shearer bagged his 17
th goal of the season, Keegan’s nightmare continued and Nash never fully recovered from the faux pas.
Ledley King - 9,82 Seconds
In 2000 Ledley King was a quality centre-half for Tottenham Hotspurs. His job was to defend the goals and he did that with the requisite class. However, in a game against Bradford City the roles were reversed when he took advantage of some scrappy clearing in the first 9,82 seconds of the match.
The versatile defender collected the ball outside the area and hoofed it rather lazily towards the goal. Thanks to a lucky deflection, the ball whipped past goalie Matt Clarke who was left wrong footed… and nursing a bruised ego for the remainder of the match.
Shane Long - 7,69 Seconds
Ledley King’s record stood for 18 years until a young Irish upstart claimed the glory all for himself. On a visit to Vicarage Road in 2019, Southampton striker Shane Long capitalised on a poor clearance by Watford goalie Chris Cathcart.
The lanky Irish national charged down the kick, nipped it over a defender’s head and scored. The first action of the match took place 7,69 seconds in, a feat that saw Ledley King’s quickest-ever goal record tumble and a new record rise in its place!
Win up to USh 35,000,000 in cash
4 matches. 4 players. 4 goals.That’s all that’s stopping your from going for glory.
Pick the first four goalscorers in four selected matches each week. Choose correctly, and you could
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