pele
Ever since Pele tried, and narrowly failed, to lob Czechoslovakia goalkeeper Ivo Viktor from just inside his own half in Brazil's opening game at the 1970 World Cup, scoring a goal from the vicinity of the halfway line has been seen as something of a holy grail in top-level football.
Few are the players to have tried it and succeeded. Fewer still are those who have pulled it off twice, but as of Sunday afternoon and a glorious injury-time winner at Real Betis, Real Sociedad's Inigo Martínez is a member of that exclusive band. Pitchside Europe looks at some of the players who, like Martínez, have bettered Pele - twice.
David Beckham
It's easy to forget now, but David Beckham's arrival in Manchester United's first XI was accompanied by none of the fanfare that tends to greet his every move today. A hard-working member of the United side that claimed a league and FA Cup Double in 1996, Beckham did not become a household name until he beat Wimbledon's Neil Sullivan from the halfway line at Selhurst Park on the opening day of the 1996-97 season. He repeated the feat while playing for Los Angeles Galaxy almost 12 years later, sweeping the ball into an empty net from almost 70 yards in a 3-1 defeat of the Kansas City Wizards.
Xabi Alonso
During his time at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso would regularly delight his team-mates in training with audacious efforts from prohibitive range. It therefore came as no surprise when he netted from inside his own half during an FA Cup tie at Luton Town in January 2006 after Luton goalkeeper Marlon Beresford had gone up for a corner. He proved it was no fluke later that year with an even more spectacular goal against Newcastle at Anfield, beating the furiously back-pedalling Steve Harper with a precise right-footed drive from over 60 yards.
David Villa
David Villa is renowned for his predatory instincts around the penalty area but he has also scored at least two extraordinary goals from distance - one for Valencia at Deportivo La Coruna in February 2006 and another for Spain against Chile at last year's World Cup.
Dejan Stankovic
Dejan Stankovic may not have scored from as far out as Beckham or Alonso, but he is unique in modern football for having scored with two volleys from just inside the opponent's half. Jaws dropped around Europe when he put Internazionale ahead against Schalke inside a minute of their Champions League quarter-final in April with an astonishing 50-yard volley at San Siro, but he had already scored a similar goal in a league game at Genoa the previous season.
Roger Garcia
The granddaddy of long-range goals, former Barcelona midfielder Roger Garcia (another Spaniard) scored from the centre of the pitch not once, not twice, but three times - and all inside the space of 12 months. Having found the net from just short of the halfway line for Espanyol at Recreativo Huelva in October 2002, Garcia repeated the trick at Rayo Vallecano six months later before doing it again for Villarreal in a UEFA Cup game against Galatasaray the following season.
Inigo Martinez
Martinez has enjoyed a scarcely believable start to life at Real Sociedad. Having scored his first league goal for the club from halfway in a 2-1 loss to derby rivals Athletic Bilbao in October, the 20-year-old centre-back went one better on Sunday, embarrassing Betis goalkeeper Casto with an outrageous shot from the halfway line that even had the good grace to kiss the crossbar on its way in. Your move, Pele.
