Footballer accidentally scores 'best goal ever' after somersault but fans left confused

A footballer in the United States has stunned fans by scoring directly from a somersault throw-in.

Zoey Maloney plays for the Drake university women's soccer team, nicknamed 'the Bulldogs' and opened the scoring in a 2-1 win over the University of Northern Iowa.

But the goal was scored courtesy of her hands, rather than her feet. The No.19 took a long throw-in in the 40th minute and started her run-up on the athletics track around the pitch.

She then proceeded to flip over and launch the ball all the way into the box. The distance she was able to generate on the throw was frightening and completely caught out the goalkeeper, who was beaten.

The rules stipulate that a player cannot score directly from a throw-in - or else Rory Delap would have done it every week playing for Stoke City.

However, because the goalkeeper got a touch on it - the goal stood. The outrageous throw-in was shown live on ESPN and covered by huge American shows like SportsCenter and Good Morning America.

But while some had said they had never seen anything like it before, there is a previous instance we have to make you aware of.

Iranian player Nader Mohammadi is something of a specialist in the throw-in department and hit headlines when he performed a somersault that transitioned into a huge hurl into the box from his side.

He too has actually scored directly from a throw-in he launched deep into the box after Gol Gohar goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi touched the ball.

One of his other impressive throws was around 55 yards in distance, which isn't all that far away from a Guinness World Record.

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