Shaqiri’s Stoke City scorcher came straight from the training ground
Xherdan Shaqiri says that his stunner for Stoke City in their win over Hull City was an example of practice made utterly perfect.
The 25-year-old lit up the bet365 Stadium with the Potters’ final goal in their 3-1 win over Hull on Saturday, the Swiss star drifting inside and unleashing an unstoppable long-range howitzer past a helpless Eldin Jakupovic to hand his team their first Premier League win in six games.
Shaqiri, who has a knack for producing the spectacular, revealed that his world-class strike had been honed on the training pitch.
“It was a really beautiful strike and I was so happy to score the goal because we work all day on it, so when it goes in it is always nice, and of course, it was an important one,” said Shaqiri.
“I’ve scored a lot of goals like this and I always try to bring my quality to the pitch.
“Everyone saw me try it and I also scored one like this earlier in the season against Hull City. I try it all the time and I’m really happy that it’s gone in today.
“It was a really nice one. I’ve seen it again and the ball goes just inside the post. I will not forget this goal for sure.
“At the end of the day, it was important to win the game, though.
“Of course it is always nice to score, but for me, it is most important that when I score, my team wins.”