Cristiano Ronaldo once claimed that people were "polemic" about him in England after an FA Cup tie he won for Manchester United against Middlesbrough.
The Boro bench claimed that he had dived to win the penalty, when replays showed he had been clipped by Jonathan Woodgate, and James Morrison was sent off for violently kicking him. Post-match, Ronaldo suggested that the opprobrium he received was maybe because he was "too good".
He was certainly that yesterday, executing an outrageous goal for Real Madrid by backheeling the ball past a plethora of Rayo Vallecano defenders ten yards out, leaving the home side flummoxed. He had done similarly for United, via an impudent flick against Aston Villa which won Match of the Day's goal of the month for April 2008, but Sunday's sensation superseded his effort from nearly four years ago.
Ronaldo's backheel against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday:
In tribute to the Second Best Player In The World, here are five other great backheels from the continent...
Theyab Awana died in a September car crash, but his legacy will be defined by one moment which took the internet by storm. His backheeled penalty for the United Arab Emirates against Lebanon against Lebanon in a friendly was a rare moment in football when those who watched were genuinely speechless:
Matt Burrows of Northern Ireland club Glentoran also garnered worldwide fame with his pirouette backheel against Portadown. The goal was shortlisted for the 2010 FIFA Puskás Award, which honours the player judged to have scored the "most beautiful" goal of the year.
Rafael van der Vaart, now of Tottenham Hotspur, used some improvisational technique at his first club Ajax:
Thierry Henry was the perennial great goalscorer and scorer of great goals. Against Carlton Athletic's tight marker Jonathan Fortune, he still managed to conjure up a spellbinding piece of ingenuity in front of Highbury's North Bank.
When Soccer AM was bearable, Phil Clarkson could claim to have spawned a cult following after his pearler for Blackpool against Northampton Town in the late 90s.