‘I’m going to have the mickey taken out of me’
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has revealed that contemporary dance classes during his youth may have contributed to his Puskas Award-winning goal against Crystal Palace earlier this year.
The France international showed incredible agility and reflexes to produce a scorpion-kick effort in a 2-0 win over Palace, in what is sure to go down as one of the great Premier League goals.
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(Video) Another wondergoal from the Olivier Giroud collection
Giroud has shown a knack for scoring some stunning efforts down the years, despite not always being the most reliable finisher in rather easier scoring situations.
While many would be reluctant to compare him with a club legend like Dennis Bergkamp, he arguably shares the quality of being a scorer of great goals more than being a great goalscorer.
Discussing his strike that was recently voted Goal of the Year at the FIFA Awards, the 31-year-old was embarrassed to admit it could be down to dancing classes he had in his youth.
‘I’m going to have the mickey taken out of me,’ Giroud was quoted on ESPN.
‘It was very bizarre, it wasn’t the situation in which I was most at ease. It was part of the curriculum to become a PE teacher.
‘But our teacher considered that kind of dancing a form of art, and the move I did could have been part of a choreography of my dance teacher at the time.’
With a collection of great goals not so dissimilar to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it is worth noting that the Manchester United forward also benefited from excelling in other sports away from the football pitch.
The Telegraph have previously noted that the Swede is a taekwondo blackbelt, and as with Giroud for his goal against Palace, it certainly shows in some of his most memorable strikes.