Wayne Rooney grabbed the headlines in Major League Soccer on Wednesday when he scored an incredible goal for DC United with a strike from inside his own half for the second time in his career.
Rooney scored the stunning goal from 70 metres out -- well inside his own half -- in the 10th minute of Wednesday’s game against Orlando City.
Rooney had scored from inside his own half for Everton against West Ham United in 2017, three years after a memorable strike from near the halfway line against the same opponents while playing for Manchester United.
“I spotted the ‘keeper maybe a couple minutes before we scored and I’d seen that he was quite high,” Rooney said in comments published on the MLS website.
{{/usCountry}}“I spotted the ‘keeper maybe a couple minutes before we scored and I’d seen that he was quite high,” Rooney said in comments published on the MLS website.
{{/usCountry}}“I knew if the ball fell to me near the halfway line, then the opportunity would be there for me to shoot it.
“He was probably a bit further out than normally because they were in possession of the ball, and it was through them losing it that it fell straight into my path. I knew immediately I was going to shoot it and, thankfully, I got it right.”
Pele famously tried and failed to score from the centre circle in Brazil’s 1970 World Cup match against Czechoslovakia but England’s David Beckham succeeded in a 1996 game for Manchester United against Wimbledon.
Rooney’s goal on Wednesday proved to be the winner and kept DC United in third place in the Eastern Conference standings.