Phoenix FC are pressing high after an early goal. Kane Harris and a teammate push Glebe Wanderers back toward their own box following a throw-in. The ball comes loose. A misplaced pass rolls into Kane's path.
He glances up. The goalkeeper is off his line.
Without taking a touch, from just inside the opposition half, maybe ten meters past the halfway line, Kane strikes it with the inside of his right foot. The ball arcs toward goal. The keeper scrambles back, but there's no chance.
Phoenix are 2-0 up inside twenty minutes. Kane has scored twice, and the second one is the kind of strike that makes people stop scrolling.
The pressure that created it
"It was the first 20 minutes of the game and I just scored 10 minutes previously to make it 1-0 but the opposing team were putting a lot of pressure on us right after," Kane says. "As we pressed them from the throw-in, one of the opposing players misplaced a pass right into my path."
That misplaced pass only happens because Phoenix keep pressing. The defender feels the pressure, rushes the decision, and suddenly Kane is running onto the ball with space ahead of him.
Most strikers would take a touch, get closer to goal, maybe look for a teammate. Kane looked up once, saw the keeper off his line, and struck it first time.
"As I pushed towards the ball I glanced up to see where the keeper was and saw him slightly off his line so decided to shoot and as soon as the ball left my foot I knew it was going in," Kane says.
The moment you know
There are goals where you hope it's going in. Goals where you think it might go in. Then there are goals where you know the instant you strike it.
Kane knew.
"Straight in the top right corner, didn't really leave the keeper a chance to be fair," he says.
The goalkeeper had no time to react. By the time he realized what was happening, the ball was already past him. The celebration was immediate. Phoenix were 2-0 up, and Kane had just scored from nearly the halfway line without taking a touch.
Phoenix would win 2-1 against Glebe Wanderers at Heffron Park Astro in Sydney's Premier First Grade Eastern Conference League. Kane's second goal turned out to be the winner, though at the time it felt like insurance on a match they were dominating.
Watching it back a thousand times
The team watched the goal about fifty times after the match. Kane has watched it easily a thousand times since.
"Every time someone sends it to me or it pops up on my social media I watch it about 5 times as I am very proud of it," Kane says.
Having the goal recorded on Veo meant it could actually be shared. The footage was easy to access, split into moments so Kane could skip straight to the goal, download it, and post it to social media.
"After I posted it to social media it was shared by family, friends and even shared as a goal of the month from a football account on TikTok," Kane says. "So yeah it was an amazing feeling and a proud moment to have one of my best goals captured on camera."
Growing up, Kane wished he could show his friends at school the goals he scored on weekends. Watching is always better than explaining, especially when you score something as special as this.
"Also, when you score a goal as special as that no one ever seems to believe it until they see it," Kane says.
Now they can see it. The interception. The glance at the goalkeeper. The first-time strike from nearly the halfway line. Top right corner.
Submitted for People's Puskas
Kane's goal has been submitted for this year's People's Puskas, which spotlights the best goals scored away from the biggest arenas.
"It's crazy to be honest," Kane says. "To be even considered for a People's Puskas award is a great honour. I'm still shocked that I got this email, but I would be over the moon to be nominated. Something to tell the future grandchildren."
For a striker playing in Sydney's Premier First Grade, having a goal considered alongside incredible strikes from around the world means something specific. This is grassroots football. Nobody's watching except the people who were there and anyone who finds the footage later.
But the quality of the goal doesn't change based on who's watching. A first-time strike from the halfway line that drops into the top corner is a first-time strike from the halfway line that drops into the top corner, whether it's at Heffron Park Astro or a stadium with 50,000 people.
What it means to have it documented
"100%," Kane says when asked if it means something special to have this kind of documentation. "As a kid and still as an adult there is nothing more I love than playing football, and for moments as special as this one it's great to be able to look back and still feel the buzz I got when I hit the back of the net."
That buzz is why players keep playing. The feeling when you know you've done something special. When the ball leaves your foot and you can already see it going in. When your teammates swarm you and you're running back to your own half, knowing you've just scored one people will remember.
Kane has that moment captured now. He can go back to it whenever he wants, feel that buzz again, show people exactly what happened without having to explain it.
"It will definitely be a goal that I'll go back and look at a lot more in the future," he says.
Phoenix FC won 2-1. Kane scored both goals. The first made it 1-0. The second, struck first time from nearly the halfway line, made it 2-0 and held up as the winner when Glebe Wanderers pulled one back.
The strike from distance, the one where Kane knew it was going in the instant it left his foot, is the one that's been submitted for People's Puskas.
Can you beat that?
