Victor Osimhen is officially the second man in football history to score an overhead kick over 2.3 metres in the air.
But the Galatasaray striker’s effort wasn’t enough to topple the record of the other member of the exclusive club – Cristiano Ronaldo.
Osimhen soared high to get the ball in the netGETTY
He is now in an exclusive club with RonaldoGETTY
Standing at a height of just below 6ft 1in, Osimhen‘s acrobatic goal in the 3-0 win over Alanyaspor on Saturday saw him leap as high as 2.32 metres into the air.
His effort saw him narrowly miss out on beating Ronaldo’s world record of 2.38 metres.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner soared that height when playing for Real Madrid against Juventus in Los Blancos’ 3-0 win away in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the 2017/18 campaign.
Of course, that’s not the only record Ronaldo boasts – he is the highest goalscorer in football history, after all.
However, his friendly foe Lionel Messi did recently edge one of his feats, so Osimhen’s hopes of pipping Ronaldo to a record shouldn’t be totally dashed.
The Nigerian striker – who had been endlessly linked with a blockbuster move to the Premier League after his role in Napoli‘s Serie A winning season – is thriving out in Turkey.
His overhead effort marks his seventh goal contribution in five games in all competitions this campaign.
The 25-year-old is currently on a season-long loan with the Turkish club.
Permanent moves to Al Ahli and Chelsea both fell through over the summer, leading his parent club to exclude him from the squad and strip him of his number.
Ironically, ex-Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku took his old shirt number instead, resulting in Osimhen moving to Turkey in September.
Ronaldo’s overhead kick in the Champions League is forever etched in the history booksAFP or licensors
Osimhen bagged 76 goals for Napoli in 133 games, but his relationship with the club souredRex
Mauro Icardi’s double put Galatasaray ahead against Alanyaspor, before Osimhen bagged his wonder goal to wrap up the win in the second minute of added time.
The result keeps them top of the Turkish Super Lig – five points clear of second place Besiktas.
Meanwhile, former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho‘s Fenerbahce are fourth in the table – eight points behind their fierce rivals.
And despite his club’s hatred for Osimhen’s side, Mourinho was highly complimentary of the striker last month.
“I don’t have problems with Victor, ” Mourinho told HT Spor.
“In fact, we have a very good relationship. But every time I play against him, I speak with him because I don’t like the way he behaves. He dives too much.
“I told him [when Roma played Napoli], ‘Look, you are one of the two best African players, you and [Mohamed] Salah. In the past, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, George Weah. You cannot behave like this.’
“He dives too much. That’s my problem with him.
“But after ten minutes, we are fine. We have a very good relationship and for the Turkish league it’s fantastic and for Galatasaray it’s fantastic too.”
