The best backheel of 2019, from Ondrej Duda—at the Olympiastadion Berlin.
Instinctual, confident, perfect.
Hertha steal the ball back from Schalke, start the counter attack with five men running on into the attacking third—and the 20-year-old Arne Maier feeds Duda with a pass a step behind him.
As if he knew to pass it just there, a yard behind…
To set up the most glorious Bundesliga assist of the week.
That backheel assist from Ondrej Duda will send me sweetly into my dreams tonight. Absolutely stunning goal from Hertha Berlin.
— Alex Chaffer (@AlexChaffer) January 25, 2019
Duda came over to Hertha BSC from Legia Warsaw in 2016, plays for Slovakia internationally, 24 years old, nine goals on the season, and won a Rolex last week from Salomon Kalou:
Looks like @salomonkalou is a man of his word after all 👊
A cheeky @ROLEX for Ondrej #Duda 💸#hahohe pic.twitter.com/9gXX3NImBZ
— Hertha Berlin (@HerthaBSC_EN) January 22, 2019
But he’s not quite made a name for himself yet, in the soccer world.
Hertha are seventh in the Bundesliga table.
Slovakia haven’t made a World Cup since 2010.
Duda scored against Wales in the Euro 2016 tournament, but they went on to lose that game, then failing to advance out of the group stage.
But tonight, if he’s got this in him?
That pass looks like a vintage bit of Arsenal playmaking.
Gorgeous goal by Hertha! Lazaro with a fantastic tackle to begin it, finished with a filthy backheel assist by Duda- both standouts this season. Massive credit to Pal Dardai, one of the more under-appreciated managers. He's built this counter-attacking team brilliantly.
— William Sinsky (@WSinsky) January 25, 2019
Here it is from another angle:
So maybe he’s on his way up, and if he keeps making passes like that…
He’ll soon approach the throne of one majorly important world title:
Top Duda
Only need to knock off him (same first name, too?):
And him:
And him:
Already, there’s a decent chance he’s achieved Top Duda by name recognition around the world—but that can be hard to say, without any such metrics yet developed.
But make a few more backheel assists like that?
We’ll have ourselves a Top Duda locked down with certainty.
So for now, after today, remember the name:
Ondrej Duda, of Hertha BSC.
Unvergessen: Das Hinspiel entschied Ondrej #Duda mit seinem ersten Doppelpack für den Hauptstadtclub – der Zweite folgte beim Rückrundenauftakt in Nürnberg. Immer weiter, Number 10! 😍 #BSCS04 #hahohe pic.twitter.com/1x8rcdOnxK
— Hertha BSC (@HerthaBSC) January 25, 2019
And as for a nickname?
Ondrej 3000.