Harry Kewell’s exquisite left-footed volley against Spurs in a 1-0 victory in 2005-2006- his first goal for over a year at the time- earns him the #93 spot on the Top 100 Goals of the Decade countdown.
Kewell had an up-and-down Liverpool career, which spanned (incredibly) five seasons, but only 139 appearances (for you math nerds out there, that’s about 28 appearances per season), 16 goals and more injuries than he or the supporters would like to remember. But, with all of that said, his talent and ability were never in question. A fully fit Harry Kewell was always a threat, and in 2005-2006 we saw our Aussie winger in full flight for perhaps the only time other than the first half of the 2003-2004 season. Against Tottenham, Kewell netted the winner in a 1-0 match that truly needed a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock. The move began with Steve Finnan, who did exceptionally well to mislead the fullback Lee with his intentions, and then swung in an equally impressive cross to the far post. Kewell was rushing onto it with serious intent, while the Spurs defense thought that the cross was intended for Crouch. It wasn’t, and Kewell snuck in behind the backlines and powered home an absolutely technically-perfect left foot volley from about 10 yards out. The ball was hit firmly on the laces with venom, but most of all with accuracy and composure… something that Kewell brought to the table when he was in a confident mood.
This goal was Harry’s first in over a year (a header at Villa in early December 2004) and was scored during an incredible 11 match run where we didn’t concede a single goal. Kewell’s volley gave all Liverpudlians hope that he would regain his scoring touch and give us more goals from the wing positions, something we had (and still have) struggled with ever since Patrik Berger left the club. Sadly this hope was never realized, and Kewell would only go on to score two more goals in his Liverpool career, one of which was a penalty and the other occuring only a few weeks later against Manchester City. The goal, though, which is the focus of this piece, was a nice piece of skill from Kewell. Many people would have skied that volley into row Z, or perhaps scuffed it into the advertisement boards, or worse yet would have missed it altogether. With Kewell, however, you always knew he’d make the contact and put it on target. At that point, he was full of confidence and was playing an important role in a team that was winning. Confidence breeds further confidence, and with Harry this was a major boost for both the supporters and for the player himself. He continued to excel in 2005-2006, even if it wasn’t with goals, and this goal really brought that to the attention of Reds supporters.
Why #93?
The goal may not have been far out, which means it is low on this list, but it was technically superb and was the true definition of an excellently taken volley. Add to it the difficulty of a volley when your vision is blocked by other players along the way, and the power in which it was struck, it truly deserves its spot on the list. Had the goal been at a tighter angle or from 5-10 yards further out, we’d be talking about it in top 20 material. It wasn’t, but that should not take away from the beauty of the strike. It was a marvellous goal and Kewell probably views this as his happiest moment at the club because the supporters FINALLY took to him after it.
