50 years ago, viewers of the ARD Sportschau prime time sports programme voted for a ‘Goal of the Year’ for the first time. Overhead kicks, scissor kicks, volleys, shots from the corner flag or the halfway line and many other goalscoring works of art have been recognised since then, with Bayern picking up the most awards (seven). Members' magazine "51" reminisces with our previous winners - in the hope that the award will finally come back to a Munich player after 22 long years...Part 5 with Jürgen Wegmann.
Goal of the Year 1988: Jürgen Wegmann vs. Nürnberg
"Bruce Lee once said: 'Be as narrow as a link and as fast as a shadow.' That fits in completely with this goal. I still remember it exactly: Olaf Thon crossed the ball into the box from midfield on 35 minutes. I was horizontal in the air and I hit the ball perfectly. It was certainly worthwhile me doing 18 Bruce Lee drills a day for four years, for example for coordination and flexibility. The fact I suffered bruised ribs when I hit the ground was a minor matter.
This strike topped the poll as the ARD 'Goal of the Year' with 113,000 votes. It was also one of the ten goals nominated for the 'Bayern Goal of the Century' vote. The fans opted for a goal scored by Gerd Müller against Tennis Borussia Berlin and that's only right, of course.
Recognition from ‘Der Bomber’
Gerd Müller is a legend and my goals are a shadow of his achievements. That made it even better that he later said to me my goal had to be the winner for him. Recently somebody recognised me when I was shopping and said: 'Hey, Kobra, I've never seen another goal like yours from back then.'
I watch a lot of football matches on TV including those involving Bayern. Robert Lewandowski is a different striker from me and he has his own qualities. But I've heard that he does similar drills to the ones I did to be able to play at this level."
In the fourth part of the series, Klaus Augenthaler reflected on his ‘Goal of the Year’ from 1989:
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