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Seven Years Ago Today, Hakan Calhanoglu Defied Gravity With A 45-Yard Free-Kick

Seven Years Ago Today, Hakan Calhanoglu Defied Gravity With A 45-Yard Free-Kick

Even Jurgen Klopp couldn't help but let out a smile.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Today marks the seventh anniversary of Hakan Calhanoglu's 45-yard free-kick and there hasn't been a better one scored since.

Hamburg welcomed Borussia Dortmund to the Volksparkstadion for the manager Mirko Slomka's first game in charge.

They managed to establish a 2-0 lead before the 91st minute when a 20-year-old Calhanoglu announced himself to the world.

Standing near the centre circle, Calhanoglu charged towards the ball and thumped it past a helpless Roman Weidenfeller.

It was genuinely like a missile, with an unreal amount of dip. How wasn't it at least nominated for the Puskas Award? Your guess is as good as ours.

That goal is what made everyone take notice of Calhanoglu and a few months later, he'd made a big move to Bayer Leverkusen.

Fans are still in awe at the strike and Jurgen Klopp, who was Dortmund manager at the time, couldn't help but break out a smile despite his side losing 3-0.

One fan commented: "This goal is were the impossible meets the possible....that's right, it's the posimpible."

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Bundesliga

Another said: "At first sight I thought you could criticise the keeper for this, but that angle at 1:25 shows how insane that strike was."

A third added: "Before this almost no one knew he way capable of FK's these good!!"

While someone simply stated: "Hate to see BvB lose, love to see absolute bangers go in from that far out. Nice one, Hakan. It still amazes me every time I watch it."

Calhanoglu is still whipping free-kicks about for fun and he's become an important player for Serie A giants AC Milan.

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PA

Milan are second in the table and a large part of that is down to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's impact.

Calhanoglu told DAZN last year: "All of his experience helps us.

"Zlatan has so many ideas that he wants to implement with us on the pitch. All of his experience helps us and, above all, his unconditional will to win. It starts with training.

"Zlatan wants to win every little training game himself, is very ambitious and gets really angry when he loses.

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PA

"Zlatan knew me and my qualities even before his return. He always asks me to play freely, not to think too much and to always be 100 percent focused.

"He also always tells me that my body is my capital. He passes on his experiences to me. On the pitch, I just know how he moves and he knows my routes."

Featured Image Credit: Bundesliga

Topics: Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga