Football fans stunned by 70-YARD wonderstrike in Italian Serie B game (VIDEO)

Castagnetti’s Cremonese side were leading by a single goal and were in hot pursuit of another when Virtus Entella ‘keeper Alessandro Russo attempted to relieve some pressure on his goal by hitting a long goal-kick upfield.

Russo, however, would be seeing the ball again a lot sooner than he may have thought after defensive midfielder Castagnetti tracked the flight of the ball in the air and connected with a sensational first-time half-volley to send the ball flying back towards Russo’s goal.

The effort hung in the air for what seemed like an age before it flew over Russo’s head and nestled in the embarrassed goalkeeper’s net, prompting wild scenes on the sidelines as Castagnetti’s teammates celebrated the wondergoal.

Incredibly, this wasn’t a first for Castagnetti, who scored a similar goal for his team last year.

The brief clip has since gone viral online, prompting numerous football fans to hail it as among the year’s best strikes so far – and a potential winner for the Puskas Award for the finest goal of 2021. 

“Football? Nah mate, I’ve completed it,” wrote on fan on Twitter. “Michele Castagnetti, retire now. It ain’t getting better than this.”

Another hailed Castagnetti’s strike as “the best goal I’ve ever seen”, while a third elaborated further: “Forget every goal you’ve ever seen. Cremonese’s Michele Castagnetti has just outdone every single one of them.”

“Not sure what the Italian for ‘ave it’ is, but this works well as a visual representation,” chimed in another.

Castagnetti’s goal harks back to similar long-range efforts from the likes of David Beckham (for Manchester United against Wimbledon in 1996), Xabi Alonso (for Liverpool against Newcastle in 2011) and even Nayim’s stunning effort for Real Zaragoza against Arsenal in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Final against Arsenal (although that effort wasn’t from his own half).

Judging by the reactions of football fans across the globe, few – or perhaps none – of those strikes can boast quite the same amount of style points as Castagnetti managed this week. 

Take a bow, son.

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