Football GIF: Can Someone Please Explain The Weird Deflection On David Alaba’s Shot?

Chris Wright

3rd, April 2013

11 Comments

By Chris Wright

Ain’t this just the weirdest-lookin’ deflection you ever did see?

Anyone out there with a degree in physics/telekinesis explain how the ball can deflect right off the defender’s toe and still curl to the left?

Unless, indeed, they playing with a Shoot 5 airflow, and then we understand perfectly…

(GIF via 101GG)

Posted in Champions League, GIFs, Skills

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11 Comments

  1. C says:

    Oh, the childhold memories of those really shitty plastic balls…

  2. Matt says:

    The deflection of the ball off the defender was only slight. The spin imparted on the ball when it hit the defender’s boot was enough to overcome the change in direction resulting from the ball hitting the boot, especially with the aid of a bounce off the turf. The ‘keeper may have been further fooled by the way Alaba hit the shot. If the ball had continued uninterrupted from his boot one could have reasonably expected it to curl the other way, towards the right hand post.

  3. C says:

    Thanks, Professor Matt :)

  4. JoeT says:

    Basically her ripped cross the back of it like the plastic string rips across a beyblade

  5. SL says:

    Just think of a left footed curler from where the deflection took place. It wasnt enough to change the direction of the ball much but put lots of spin on it.

  6. gwp87 says:

    Wot I find more impressive is tht it hits the penalty spot before it goes in !

  7. Guy says:

    Anyone else impressed that Gigi still almost got to it, especially after committing to the other direction (based on the initial shot)? After watching it live and looking at endless replays, he had it tracked all the way, it was the deflection/spin/aerophysics which took it into goal, and outside of his reach.

  8. cj herrera says:

    I’ve watched it 20 times and it’s still pretty amazing.

    I’d love to see the close up, slowed down flight of the ball just between the deflection and the bounce —

  9. Sir Alex says:

    it hit the ground near the penalty spot which caused it to curve

  10. Robert says:

    It looks like the defenders leg clips the “back” of the ball as its already gone past. This sets the clockwise spin going even faster than the initial shot. I mean, fast… spinning like a top. The effect this has is that the spin (The Magnus Effect) overcomes the deflection from right to left and actually curls it further to the right (from the kicker) than it would have gone in the first place. Try to ignore the bounce when watching it. You can see that if it had stayed in the air longer, it would have eventually curled to the same place.

  11. soph gibaon says:

    Ahhh shoot 5 plastic footballs are the best in the whole world!! I love them!

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