The winner of Brisbane Roar’s inaugural Fans’ Goal of the Year award Mohamed Adnan said he’s honoured by his end-of-season award but is more pleased that his first strike for the club “made people happy”.
The winner of Brisbane Roar-s inaugural Fans- Goal of the Year award Mohamed Adnan said he-s honoured by his end-of-season award but is more pleased that his first strike for the club “made people happy”.
The Bahraini scooped the gong at the Roar-s Presentation Night VII on Saturday after event attendees deemed his dead ball effort against Sydney FC back in January 2012 the best of the Hyundai A-League season.
The timing and circumstance surrounding the free kick surely contributed to Adnan-s success with the goal coming in the fourth minute of second half injury time to level the scores against the Sky Blues.
Besart Berisha scored the winner less than sixty seconds later to secure a dramatic come-from-behind victory at Suncorp Stadium.
“Winning the award made it feel like I did something good for the team,” Adnan said.
“It was something the people in my country can be proud of.
“That-s why we play football – we want to make people feel happy because we are bigger than just playing to be famous or to get recognition.
“Our target was to make our fans, our friends and our families happy.”
When the free-kick was awarded in front of the Roar-s passionate supporters in the Den, it was playmaker Thomas Broich who stepped up to initially claim the ball until Adnan told him it was his turn.
And as the lanky defender recalled the moment in his post-training interview, fittingly it was Broich who found himself involved with the storytelling.
“I was shocked – I-ve seen him at training and I was expecting a rugby league type of goal, like a conversion,” the German joked.
“He must have mishit it I think.”
But in all seriousness, it was a culmination of many hours on the training paddock that resulted in Adnan-s impressive strike and the wacky celebration that followed.
Before he made his way to Brisbane in last year-s off-season, he plied his trade in the Bahraini and Qatari leagues where finding the back of the net via a free kick was not uncommon for him.
“Each season, the minimum free kicks I used to score was about five or six,” Adnan said.
“Normally, I scored about nine or ten goals altogether but my top record for one season is 14 goals.”
When asked about tips for any aspiring footballers, Adnan urged them to think about the bigger picture.
“If you watch me before that free kick, I looked at the goalkeeper at the last second before I kicked the ball,” he said.
“Sometimes you have to watch the goal, sometimes you have to watch the wall, you have to be aware of everything around you.”
