What does a traditional corner kick goal look like? Some absolute unit holding off their marker, getting an edge at the near post and powering a header home, right?
There’s just one problem: What if your big hulking center back gets marked or blocked off by their big hulking center back?
You’ve tried short corners. You’ve set picks. You’ve even pulled up those Japanese high school team clips for inspiration. Nothing works!
Federico Bernardeschi is here to tell you that there’s a new way to score on corner kicks where you don’t need any extra equipment to score on corners! You just need a ball, some audacity, and extravagant levels of talent, and you too can score an olimpico.
Just six minutes into Toronto FC’s Saturday night contest against Charlotte FC, Bernardeschi looked at a sea of blue-clad visitors and teammates in gray and red, and decided none of them needed to matter. Instead, the Italy winger just wrapped his left foot around the ball from the corner, bending the ball directly into the upper corner at the back post.
Federico Bernardeschi scores an Olimpico 😱
What a goal directly from the corner kick. #TFCLive pic.twitter.com/4cUES8HFmb
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 1, 2023
Charlotte goalkeeper George Marks seemed to read a possible chance to punch, but with the winds swirling on the banks of Lake Ontario and Bernardeschi’s ability, the ball swerved around him before dropping gently into the net.
TFC would pick up another goal from a corner — Brandon Servania’s service to Michael Bradley was far more old-school, with the ex-U.S. men’s national team captain heading home in the 44th minute — but would still end up letting a win slip away. An early finish from Ben Bender got Charlotte back into the match, and struggling Designated Player Kamil Józwiak would stab home a second as the Carolinians fought back for a road draw.
Next week, for Toronto to snag a win rather than continuing on as MLS’s draw kings (they have four from six games already) Bernardeschi will just have to figure out how to get more corner kick chances from the right wing.
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