Venezuelan Soccer Man Is A Magician With The Ball. Literally. He Can Do Magic.

Usually when you call a soccer player magical or a wizard with the ball, you’re using the terms metaphorically. Not here. This is not a drill. Zamora striker César Martínez really has magic powers. Watch this goal celebration and tell yourself otherwise:

If you’re as skeptical of magical phenomena as I am, you’ll probably stare at that gif above over and over and over, searching for a concealed hand that could be holding it up (why are there only 10 players surrounding Martínez??? WHERE IS THE 11TH MAN!?!?!), trying to determine if those last few frames in the video mean he was holding it himself all along, and ultimately discarding both of those explanations.

Then, the scientific part of your mind still not satisfied, you might go hunting for other angles. That search might lead you here:

This bit doesn’t show the actual celebration but it does include some crucial moments of Martínez’s actions immediately before performing his dark arts. There, you’ll see him fidgeting with something in his waistband, maybe, and tugging at the band on his right wrist, which appears to unravel. A telling revelation?

Believing yourself to be close to the answer, a look back at the original video will show you that, after punting the ball into the sky, Martínez does appear to be ripping off whatever is on his wrist. Further inspection of the second video would prove he was not wearing the mysterious bracelet later in the match. But still, the solution doesn’t feel complete.

If you reach this final stage with doubt in your mind yet no concrete evidence of how exactly a strip of tape or wire or some other kind of elastic substance could keep the ball up while Martínez’s hand dropped below it, stop there. Some things weren’t meant to be understood. Maybe Martínez really is magical. Accept the mystery.

[ Daily Mail]

h/t Andy