‘I think Vitinha thought he was playing the wrong sport there because that was more of a rugby union restart.’
Those were bewildered mutterings from the television commentator during the UEFA Super Cup final as the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder booted the second half kick-off straight towards the corner flag and out for a Tottenham goal-kick.
‘Not one we’ve seen before,’ remarked the co-commentator alongside him. ‘Not one you’ll see again, I wouldn’t have thought.’
As it happened, we only had to wait another three days to see it again. I was at Villa Park for Newcastle’s opening Premier League game against Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime and watched as Sandro Tonali arrowed his side’s first kick of the new season more than 60 yards straight out for a throw-in near the opposition corner flag.