Arfield unsurprised Roofe has raised standard at Ibrox
Veteran insists forward’s wonder strike in Belgium is a sign of things to come
CLOSE the voting, get the trophy inscribed with Kemar Roofe’s name on it and prepare for the presentation. No other entrants need apply.
The goal of the season award has been decided already. For many, Roofe’s remarkable effort against Standard Liege was the goal of their lifetime.
That will surely be the case for Roofe himself. No matter how many games he plays or times he tries, nothing can surpass that moment of brilliance on Thursday evening.
To have the vision is one thing, to have the ability is quite another and it is no wonder that clips of the goal have gone viral. Roofe is now an internet sensation.
Beating Liege defenders one by one, on a waterlogged and barely playable pitch, wasn’t even the hard bit for the striker. The execution of the strike was perfect and keeper Arnaud Bodart could only watch on helplessly as, from fully 55 yards, Roofe found the back of the Liege net to secure a 2- 0 win for Rangers.
Steven Gerrard described it as genius and Scott Arfield is in no doubt about where Roofe’s injury- time clincher stands in his mind.
“It’s the best goal I’ve seen on a pitch when I’ve been involved, possibly the best goal I’ve ever seen with my own eyes,” Arfield ( inset) said. “He shapes up to hit it from his own half. I thought it was the wrong body position to hit the corner flag. Ten seconds later, we were all celebrating. Amazing. He’s going to the get the plaudits at this football club. He’s well on course to win the goal- of- the- season competition in the Europa League and at Rangers. I don’t see anything beating that.
“I’ve not actually [ seen him try it in training]. He’s just showed me a goal he scored against Brentford. I think he was at Oxford. He scores from just inside their half. So he’s obviously got it in his locker but I don’t think anything comes close to his one [ on Thursday] night.
“First of all, I’m thinking, ‘ How does he get away from four people in a swimming pool?’ Then I saw him fall over as he was striking it . “He has obviously put so much power into his shot. I just saw the keeper scrambling.
“Honestly, it’s an absolutely incredible goal, an incredible bit of ability. That’s what you get when you pay money for these players. They come up with these moments that will forever be remembered.”
On a remarkable night for Rangers and Roofe, there was a somewhat sour end to proceedings as a rammy erupted at the final whistle.
Standard took offence to Roofe’s celebrations – the striker making the letters “A” and “L” with his fingers to represent the initials of his children – and scuffles broke out on the pitch.
The Belgians wrongly believed it was a reference to former club Anderlecht and in the heat of the moment they let themselves down as their emotions got the better of them. Arfield said: “I don’t think that [ it was a dig at Liege]. That’s what he does in his celebrations.
“That’s the initials of his two kids. It’s nothing to do with anything derogatory to Liege or anything like that. That’s his kids and that’s his celebration.
“It kicked off [ at the end]. Their assistant manager or a member of their first- team staff came over and said what he had to say to Kemar.
“As a team, you back each other up. It was a bit of handbags. He got his yellow card. He got his punishment for it. He also got his goal.”
Amid the drama over Roofe’s strike and the scenes at the end, the significance of the final result was momentarily forgotten about. It cannot be overlooked, though.
This was the first time that Rangers have won a groupstage game away from home under Gerrard’s guidance and, with Lech Poznan to visit Ibrox next week, it was the perfect start to Group D.
“I think it has probably been lost in the goal,” Arfield said. “It was a terrific victory for us. It was six years since they had been beaten at home.
“We knew that stat before the game. We thought before the game that we could go and get a result and thankfully
we did. We showed what we are capable of mentally and physically – getting across the grass, structure on the ball, structure off the ball, hitting teams on the break.
“It’s another game that we have managed to get the three points from. But we have got another two games before the international break that we need to back it up in.”
The chance to do just that arrives quickly for Rangers against Livingston at Ibrox.
Rangers have built up momentum and Arfield knows it must be maintained and capitalised on as they focus on the job in hand.
“[ It’s] massively important,” he said. “In the game after Galatasaray, Ross County at home, we managed to get the result, but the performance was a bit leggy, a bit lethargic.
“It will be a similar game on Sunday. With no fans, you need to create your own buzz and get yourself going.
“No matter who the manager picks, I feel as if we’re going to do that.”
It’s an absolutely incredible goal, an incredible bit of ability