Few things surprise us in football these days.
Rafa Benitez losing his first Championship game with Newcastle. Meh, it happens.
Spurs beating Inter 6-1. Boring.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic getting tips from Stormzy? Zzzzz.
It takes something very special for us to sit up and take notice. And that something very special is this outrageous piece of skill from Fulham new-boy Denis Odoi.
EuroFootball/Getty Images
The Belgian international was making his competitive debut for the London club in the 1-0 victory over Rafa’s Newcastle.
He didn’t score – that honour went to Matt Smith – but he did pull off something quite remarkable.
As a high ball came his way on the right, Odoi spotted Magpies left-back Paul Dummett out of the corner of his eye.
He had three options:
- Head the ball inside to team-mate Tom Cairney
- Take a touch and knock a pass back to another colleague
- Control it on his chest and try to beat Dummett down the line.
Odoi, as you may have guessed by now, chose option four.
Odoi could be my new favourite @FulhamFC player! 😱😱😱 #FULNEW #FFC https://t.co/wU8CqMOs0a
— Siobhan ⚽️👐🏼 (@Sio_Chamberlain) August 5, 2016
It hasn’t been a fun few years for Fulham fans.
After relegation from the Premier League in 2014 they have lost some of their most talented players, with the likes of Patrick Roberts, Pajtim Kasami and Moussa Dembele (no, not that one, the other fella) moving to pastures new.
So it goes without saying that when they saw Odoi in action, they were immediately won over.
https://twitter.com/mlungz77/status/761666405129486337
https://twitter.com/ConnorDurham18/status/761666311986434048
https://twitter.com/AndyGlockner/status/761666050085695490
That Odoi back and turn. I haven't enjoyed watching Fulham like that for ages. What a chap
— Fulhamaway (@Fulhamaway) August 5, 2016
Luckily no one got too carried away,though.
Odoi skill to touch it with his back was Ballon dor worthy
— Rory (@Rambler_ramble) August 5, 2016
Denis Odoi? More like Denis Oh-Boy, am I right?
