Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 6y

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud: Scorpion kick goal inspired by dance classes

Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud has revealed his award-winning "scorpion kick" goal was inspired by dance classes he took while a student.

Giroud last week won FIFA's Puskas Award for his incredible backheel volley against Crystal Palace on New Year's Day. 

He had initially told media the strike in his team's 2-0 win had been down to "maximum luck" and had perhaps been inspired by a similar but less spectacular goal by Manchester United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan just days before.

However, in an interview with France 2, the former Montpellier forward said contemporary dance classes taken in his youth had been key to his goal.

"I'm going to have the mickey taken out of me," the France international said. "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."

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