LUKA ADZIC JOINS OLYMPIC GOALS CLUB !
Luka Adžić joins small club of “Olympic goals’ braces”!
A very rare case for the world football occurred in the Serbian league on 12 March. One player, Luka Adžić, scored 2 Olympic goals (directly from a corner) in the match vs Spartak Subotica (2-2).
Adžić became a joint record holder in this category. We have found few similar cases (2 Olympic goals by a player in the same game) in the top level matches; they are gathered in the table.
Now couple of words about other heroes.
*The first brace from a corner dates back to 1946; it’s author Ary Mantovani, a 22-year-old Palmeiras striker, produced his feat in the Paulista championship game against Portuguesa Santista.
Curiously, Mantovani retired at just 24 years old; not following a serious injury, but for the reason to help his parents to manage the family hotel.
*Paul Owens from Coleraine in 2012 took in the game vs Glenavon in the Northern Ireland league a benefit from very strong wind which made the trajectories of the ball unpredictable.
At the end of the match he was even close to achieve the first ever hat-trick of Olympic goals, but the Glenavon goalkeeper was now expecting it and the third Owens attempt has no longer caught him unprepared.
*Ernesto Juan «Cococho» Alvarez, an Argentinean, was the most successful Olympic goal-scorer in the history of Colombian league. From his total 35 goals, not fewer than a quarter were Olympic ones (8 or 9, in different souces).
His most brilliant performance is dated back by 29 August 1976 when "Cococho", playing for Deportivo Cali against Cúcuta, beat the opposition goalkeeper Héctor Roganti twice from the corner (however, some statisticians credit him only 1 goal in the game).
*It is worth to be mentioned one more case, though it’s hero Charlie Tully can not be registered as one of co-holders of the record in consideration.
Tully, a Northern Irish player, spent most of his career in Scotland, where he became a star for Celtic Glasgow in the 1950s. He scored reportedly 11 Olympic goals over the years.
The most curious episode dates back to 1953: in a Scottish Cup match against Falkirk he scored a goal directly from the flag. The referee believed that he had placed the ball outside outside the foul line, disallowed the goal and judged the corner to be retaken. Tully, without being upset, repeated his joke and scored again.
| PLAYERS WITH MOST | OLYMPIC | GOALS | IN A | SINGLE GAME | ||
| Player | Nationality | Goals | Date | Team | Game | Tourn. |
| Ary Mantovani | Brazil | 2 | 05/10/1946 | Palmeiras | Portuguesa Santista 6-2 | RL |
| Ernesto “Cococho” Álvarez | Argentina | 2(?) | 29/08/1976 | Dep. Cali (Colombia) | Cúcuta 3-2 | NL |
| Paul Owens | Northern Ireland | 2 | 21/01/2012 | Coleraine | Glenavon 3-1 | NL |
| Luka Adžić | Serbia | 2 | 12/03/2024 | Čukarički | Spartak Subotica 2-2 | NL |