There must be something in the water in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
First Riley McGree went viral with his incredible ‘scorpion’ goal for Newcastle Jets in their semi-final win over Melbourne City in 2018.
Not to be outdone, Western United’s Ben Garuccio mastered his own impersonation during Sunday’s 3-2 victory at home to Western Sydney Wanderers.
Garuccio, who scored a double to inspire Western, went viral with a sensational reverse bicycle kick 22 minutes from the end at AAMI Park.
The scorpion kings of the A-Leagues, Garuccio revealed fellow South Australian and Socceroo McGree – now playing for Middlesbrough in the Championship – had reached out following his worldie.
“He said welcome to the club,” Garuccio told Simon Hill and Alex Brosque during his appearance on The Global Game. “Typical Riley McGree message.
“It was good and obviously I’ve had messages from lots of people. People have been awesome about it. I don’t score too many goals so to score a goal like that, it will be a highlight in my career for years to come.”
So, who scored the better scorpion goal?
Highlighting the quality of goals in the ALM this season, Garuccio also referenced Craig Noone’s stunner for Macarthur FC against Central Coast Mariners earlier this month.
“From an aesthetic point of you, I’d say Riley as well because you have to know he is a left footer and he did that on his right foot,” Garuccio said in reply to Brosque, who ranked McGree’s effort first.
“Whether he’s meant it or not, from the way that goal just was, from the edge of the box in a final, top corner. The way it went, it was unbelievable.
“But to be honest, I watched Craig Noone’s goal a couple of weeks ago. I was thinking what is going through this guy’s head to hit that first time on the volley and never in my wildest dream’s would I have thought that I could’ve score a goal anywhere close to that calibre a couple of weeks later.”
Garuccio had not scored in four years before leading Western past the Wanderers in Melbourne.
Funnily enough, Garuccio bought new boots and wore them for the game, and they worked a charm after sending the football world and social media into a frenzy.
“When it actually sunk in, I literally could not concentrate for the rest of the game,” said Garuccio.
“I’ve never had that in a game of football before… I literally couldn’t wait for the game to finish because I felt like I was going to give a goal away. I was daydreaming.
“It sounds bad but I’ve never experienced like that before. That probably tells you that’s the best moment of I’ve had in my career.”
Aleksandar Prijovic teed up Garuccio, delivering a sublime cross into the box with the outside of his boot.
The rest is history.
“I made that run in,” Garuccio said as he walked through the goal. “The full-back went out and the centre-back started to go out as well and he was quite far outside the post and I thought there’s a bit of a gap.
“Prijovic was wide so there was no one in the box. I thought why not, I’ll just try to get in there and who knows? As the ball comes in, obviously I’m not a striker, and I’ve sort of overrun it. It was a top ball. As I’ve overrun it, I’ve thought the only thing I could do, if there was someone else behind me, if there was someone else there I would’ve probably left the ball, but I just thought the only thing I could do is try to watch this the best I can and try to get something on it.
“That’s what I did, I just watched it. There comes that moment where you can’t look at the ball anymore and you have to go on instinct and try to time it as best you can. As it hit my heel, I was obviously surprised it hit my heel, I was expecting to miss the ball completely. It felt like a pretty good connection.
“By the time I hit the ground and looked up it was in the net. I couldn’t believe it.”
