Golazo: José Manuel Rey Ecuador vs Venezuela, WCQ 2007 - Monster free kick

13 October 2007. José Manuel Rey, (Venezuela's most capped player) lined up a free kick against Ecuador in the high altitude venue of Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, in the first round of the gruelling South American qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup. 

Judging by his enormous run up, it seemed like the former Dundee FC player was going to have a crack at goal, surely not from that far out? But he did, unleashing an absolutely blistering shot and when the ball hit the net the stadium fell into stunned silence apart from a tiny pocket of travelling Venezuela fans.

Venezuela held on to record their first ever win against Ecuador in Quito and got their World Cup qualification campaign off to an unexpectedly good start. The traditional whipping boys of South America eventually finished 8th out of the 10 teams, but only 2 points behind the Uruguay team that made it all the way to the World Cup semi-finals.

Part of the Golazo series.