Davor Suker - professor of goal poaching
by Myles Palmer
FEATURES
THE ARSENAL AGM - FULL WRITE UP
FIVE REASONS: ARSENAL COULD WIN IN BARCELONA
CARLTON AND ITV UPSET US AGAIN
JEKYLL AND HYDE PLAY THE NOU CAMP
DAVOR SUKER has the best left foot in Europe.
When Croatia played the Republic of Ireland in Zagreb last week it was 0-0 after 90 minutes. Five minutes of stoppage time was added.
Suker had seen a diving header disallowed for offside. Correctly disallowed, in my view. The replay looked tight, but marginally off.
Hovering on the shoulder of the last man, inches onside, he also received a through-pass and placed a low left foot shot inches past the post.
The Irish, without Roy Keane and Denis Irwin, who were injured in the magnificent 2-1 victory over Yugoslavia in Dublin, had held out bravely for a heroic point.
Then, in the 94th minute, Suker scored the goal of the week, a poacher's masterpiece from ten yards, a gem which sparkled even brighter than Edgar Davids' dribble past four Belgians in that bizarre 5-5 friendly in Rotterdam.
A defender hit a 40-yard ball over the top, from behind the centre circle. As the ball was in the air, Kenny Cunningham backpedalled, and goalkeeper Alan Kelly hesitated fatally.
Suker, looking over his shoulder as the ball came down, controlled it exquisitely as it hit the ground, with the inside of his left foot, and flicked it past the now-advancing Kelly with the outside of his left foot.
The goal was the work of a fantastic technician. A minimalist genius who knows that, sometimes, less is more.
Decades of experience and practice went into those two sublime touches from a lethal weapon that is as quick as a snake's tongue.
It was an immaculate demonstration of Suker's patience, concentration and finesse, which I mentioned in my first piece about Suker on August 2nd, the day he signed.
An amazing goal in any game, but at that time, in those circumstances, in a Euro 2000 qualifying match which Croatia had to win, it was awesome. An incredible goal.
Bergkamp could not have scored it. Fowler could not have scored it. Vieri could not have scored it. (Only Pele or Maradona could have killed and buried such a difficult half-chance.)
It was Suker's 42nd goal in 52 internationals. If he had not already scored 41 goals for Croatia you might have thought this one was a fluke. But it was not luck. Suker has been scoring classy goals for years.
Can he do it for Arsenal? Yes. Arsenal have often struggled against Aston Villas' 3-5-2 system because they have been unable to use the pace of Ian Wright and Anelka against a team who defend deep.
But Davor Suker is clever in crowded penalty areas where defenders outnumber opponents, create a comfort zone for themselves, and switch off, mentally. Suker will punish that. He is exceptionally cute at moving away from a defender at the last moment to create a yard of space for a precise shot or header. Just as Tony Adams is, in Wenger's words, a doctor of defence, so Davor Suker is a professor of poaching, a centre forward with a Ph.D. in clinical finishing.
In a low-scoring game, which Arsenal-Aston Villa usually is, Suker is the kind of calm, brainy striker who should do well.
Real Madrid coach John Toshack allegedly said:"He's one of the Ferrari brigade." Meaning, presumably, that he is a playboy whose Spanish girlfriend is a superstar TV presenter.
But Arsene Wenger says Suker has the right spirit to be successful at Highbury.We shall soon see.
September 7th 1999