Costa Rica’s star goalie, Keylor Navas, continued his historic march through world football as his club team, Real Madrid, won its third consecutive Champions League title on Saturday.
The lively game saw the two-time champions, facing off against an initially dominant Liverpool, notch a strange early goal when Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius made a save, then tried to throw the ball to a teammate and instead placed it at the feet of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, who easily sent the ball to the back of the net.
Liverpool’s Sadio Mané evened the score in the 55th minute, blasting the ball past Navas, but things changed once again when Madrid’s Gareth Bale stormed onto the field in a substitution in the 61st minute. Only three minutes later, he scored the goal of a lifetime: a powerful bicycle kick that stunned Karius and the world to bring the score to 2-1. Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_dng0nxyn4
Bale also scored Madrid’s third and final goal, blasting a long shot (literally and figuratively) that Karius inexplicably fumbled.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane became the first coach in history to win three Champions League titles. Navas, for his part, will now turn his attention to his role tending Costa Rica’s nets in the upcoming World Cup.
