Patrik Schick spotted the goalkeeper off his line, launched a looping shot from just inside the halfway line, and gave his team a two-goal lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Schick scored both goals for the Czech Republic on Monday (Tuesday NZT) in a 2-0 victory over Scotland at the European Championships. But it was his second goal that will be talked about for years to come.
Scotland lost possession when a shot towards the Czech goal was blocked and the ball fell to Schick. The Bayer Leverkusen forward looked up and spotted opposing goalkeeper David Marshall way off his line before hitting a long, curling shot that bounced into goal.
Marshall gave chase, but he could only watch the ball sail into the goal before he ended up tangled in net.
“There was a deflected ball,” Schick said. “I took a look [at the goalkeeper] to see where he was standing and he was pretty high. I checked it again and fired.”
Schick and the other Czech players ran towards the corner of Hampden Park where a few dozen Czech fans erupted in celebration.
UEFA said it was the longest distance for a goal in the tournament at 49.7 metres. The previous record of 38.6 metres came from Germany midfielder Torsten Frings at Euro 2004.
“It’s a fairy tale to score such a goal,” Czech Republic midfielder Tomáš Souček said. “It’s fantastic how he hit it.”
Souček later added on Twitter: “It’s clear we already have the goal of the tournament. No need to try to beat it.”
Schick had earlier given the Czechs the lead in the 42nd minute with a powerful header after muscling himself between two Scotland defenders. It was an excellent finish that came from an equally outstanding cross from right back Vladimír Coufal.
Schick has now scored 13 goals from 27 appearances for the Czech Republic, a rate of about a goal every other game.
Scotland coach Steve Clarke didn’t blame his goalkeeper for his positioning on Schick’s second goal.
“It’s a fantastic finish. Instead of assigning blame, sometimes you have to credit the goalscorer,” Clarke said.
Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Šilhavý said Schick has been practising long shots in training, and has tried to score from long range before.
“The second goal was something out of this world,” Šilhavý said. “We really haven’t seen a goal like that from the middle of the field in a long time.”
