The early to mid-2000s seemed to be a peak time for top quality football adverts.
A fair few of them were courtesy of Nike. We had ‘The Secret Tournament‘, and of course the ‘Portugal v Brazil‘ advert, which starred Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos.
And, for those of a certain age, who could forget Ronaldinho‘s famous crossbar trick from 2005?
As you can see in the clip, the Brazilian superstar smashes the ball against the crossbar four times in succession, before it rebounds perfectly back under his control without bouncing.
Debate raged at the time, about the whether the footage was genuine or edited post-production, meaning it caused the exact stir that the brand wanted.
There was to be no doubt about Riyad Mahrez’s unbelievable recreation of the trick for Manchester City yesterday, however.
Mahrez’s crossbar strike
During the first half of City’s 5-0 win over Everton, the Algerian geared up for a long range effort.
His curling effort beat Toffees ‘keeper Jordan Pickford, but not the crossbar.
The ball smashed against the upright before rebounding straight back to Mahrez’s feet, at which point he controlled it exquisitely.
The 28-year-old provided the assist for Kevin De Bruyne‘s 11th minute opener – his sixth assist of what has been a fine season for the Algerian international.
Mahrez then lifted the Premier League title for the third time in his career, with all three of those triumphs arriving in the last five years.
He could add a first Champions League trophy to his career collection on May 29, with City facing Chelsea in the final of the competition in Porto.
Featured Image Credit: Getty / Nike
