Ten of the best bicycle kick goals ever scored

If he was still alive, today would have marked the 100^th birthday of the man credited with the invention of the bicycle kick, Leonidas da Silva. We can thank him for these ten beauties.

Da Silva is honoured in a Google Doodle today on what would have been the 100^th birthday of a man who is believed to have executed the first bicycle kick for his club, Bonsucesso, in 1932 and continued to do it during spells with a host of other Brazilian clubs and the Brazilian national team until his retirement in 1950.

Thankfully, many players mimicked da Silva’s trademark and are continuing to do so today, leading to some wonderful goals over the years. We could probably have included 50 in here but we still think that the ones we have gone with are half decent and all of them are perfect, or damn close to perfect examples of actual overhead kicks as opposed to scissor-kicks or other alternatives.

So without further ado and in no particular order, sit back and enjoy some of the greatest bicycle kicks of all time….

Trevor Sinclair, QPR v Barnsley, 1997

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United v Manchester City, 2011

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden v England, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzvQCbdAIZQ

Hugo Sanchez, Real Madrid v Athletic Bilbao, 1981

Marco Van Basten, Ajax v FC Den Bosch, 1984

Falcao, Atletico Madrid v America De Cali, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL7xtWJb5cg

Rivaldo, Barcelona v Valencia, 2001

Eliran Atar, Bnei Yehuda v Maccabi Netania, 2009

Philippe Mexes, AC Milan v Anderlecht, 2012

Manuel Negrete, UNAM v Puebla, 1985