Arsenal youngster Joel Ideho took inspiration from David Beckham by scoring a wonderful long-range goal in a pre-season friendly against St Albans City.
Ideho was playing for Arsenal ’s Under-23 side against the National League South team on Monday. The 19-year-old enjoyed a good day out, scoring the game’s only goal in a narrow 1-0 win – but it was the nature of the strike which caused a stir online.
He won possession on the left side of midfield with a strong tackle before cutting inside and beating two St Albans players to open up some space by the centre-circle. Ideho took one look up, and rather than pick out a team-mate with a pass, he decided to try the audacious.
His beautifully-struck shot soares over the stranded St Albans goalkeeper Loris Marcimin, who was way off his line, and hit the back of the net on the full. Ideho is quickly swamped by his team-mates, who can barely believe the goal, which had come from around 50 yards out, echoing Beckham’s famous chip over Neil Sullivan for Manchester United against Wimbledon in August 1996.
Just 2,601 fans were there to witness the piece of brilliance live at the Mozzarella Fellas Stadium, but 123,000 people have viewed the clip on social media, with another 45,000 watching the game highlights on YouTube.
Ideho joined Arsenal from Ajax in 2020 and signed a professional contract in October of that year. He is seen as a hugely talented but slightly inconsistent performer and will be desperate to kick on and impress his coaches in the 2022/23 season.
If this goal is anything to go by then confidence does not seem to be a problem for the winger, who is eligible to represent the Netherlands.
Arsenal Under-21s, who are coached by Mehmet Ali, will begin their campaign on Saturday against Manchester United. Ali joined Arsenal as Under-23s assistant coach in January and was promoted in July, alongside Jack Wilshere, who took the Under-18s job, when Dan Micciche and Kevin Betsy moved to take over at Crawley Town.
"Mikel [Arteta] has a huge influence on the academy, he has a huge interest in the academy as well as all of his coaching staff," Ali said after being appointed. "I talk with them regularly about the players, about the under-21 players and I’ve been very fortunate enough to be in a position where they’re supporting me in terms of what they’re looking for, which I think is key.
"It’s really important to know what Mikel is actually looking for, to then give that information to the players to make sure that they’re showing that when they do get the opportunity to go up with the first-team.”
