Victor Wanyama reveals his most memorable game and best goal scored during his career
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Reading Time: 3min | Mon. 13.10.25. | 20:19
Aged only 21, Wanyama, who wore number 67, powered his side to an astonishing 2-1 victory over former cup winners Barcelona
Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama says Celtic’s stunner against Barcelona on Wednesday, 7 November 2012, remains the most memorable game he has ever played in.
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The 34-year-old, recently responding to quickfire questions on BBC Swahili, said the UEFA Champions League match at Celtic Park is the one game he can never forget, given his leading role in it, and the atmosphere it created in Glasgow, Scotland.
Aged only 21, Wanyama, who wore number 67, powered his side to an astonishing 2-1 victory over former cup winners Barcelona, a result that to this day is still hardly believable.
Playing as outright underdogs against star-studded Barcelona, Neil Lennon’s side managed to squeeze out a historic victory over their Group G opponents, despite recording 11% possession, attempting five shots on goal, and making 789 fewer passes than the Catalans.
The occasion, christened “An unforgettable night in Paradise” by Celtic’s in-house TV station, saw Wanyama open the scoring inside the first 21 minutes, when he outjumped Jordi Alba to head Charlie Mulgrew’s corner past a stretching Victor Valdes in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
©Getty ImagesThe Bhoys, who largely depended on goalkeeper Fraser Forster to frustrate hungry Barcelona, got their second seven minutes from time, when teenage substitute Tony Watt pounced on a long punt misjudged by Xavi Hernandez to calmly slot into the bottom corner.
Barcelona, then coached by the late Tito Vilanova, grabbed a goal back in stoppage time through Lionel Messi, but it was not enough to spoil the Celtic party, and an instant classic that Wanyama and co. cannot get out of their heads.
Speaking of the win then described by former manager Lennon as “one of the greatest nights in the club's recent history”, Wanyama, in an interview last year, said: “It was a tough game but we had a good group and went out there.
You know when you have a big game like that, the fans support the team from the first minute till the end, and that gives you energy, which makes you get the results.”
Wanyama’s header at the backpost, however, does not rank as his best goal scored during his professional career.
That honour instead falls to his viral long-range strike for Tottenham Hotspur against Liverpool on Sunday, 4 February 2018 at Anfield Stadium.
Just in as a second-half substitute to replace Mousa Dembele, Wanyama equalised for Spurs two minutes after coming on, with a ferocious right-footed strike that flew past Loris Karius and into the top left corner.
The Premier League game ended up finishing 2-2, but represented a big moment for the Kenyan midfielder.
“I had just come off an injury and was slowly coming back to the team," Wanyama reminisced about the strike, which won him the Premier League Goal of the Month award with a smile. “I then scored within two minutes after coming on as a sub. It was one proper shot.”
