Top 10 headers of a ball under 6ft tall: Hernandez, Luis Garcia, Tim Cahill, Pele, Messi and more
Robin Van Persie scoring for Arsenal against Villa may have been no surprise, but Yossi Benayoun grabbing a late headed winner was less predictable. The slight Israeli midfielder is known for his silky skills, rather than headed goals, but despite being 5ft 10in Benayoun is more than capable of using his head when it counts, as he proved when scoring the winner for his old club Liverpool away to Real Madrid in 2009.
A lack of physical stature needn't prevent a player from being good in the air, as talkSPORT reveals…
1) LIONEL MESSI (5ft 6in)
Despite being diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency in childhood, the diminutive Argentinian has been known to out-gun much taller players, including his winner in the 2009 Champions League final against Man United.
2) DENIS LAW (5ft 9in)
Scotland's greatest ever scorer came to Huddersfield rake-thin looking more like a paper boy than footballer, yet a few years later he was 'King of the Stretford End' at Manchester United. His team-mate, the late George Best couldn't have put it better when he said that Law, “headed the ball sometimes almost as hard as other players kicked it”.
3) Tim Cahill (5ft 10in)
Everton's resident Australian is famed for his headed goals from set pieces and open play, following in a fine tradition of Toffees aerial legends like Andy Gray and Dixie Dean.
4) PELE (5ft 8in)
The greatest player of all time wasn't merely exceptional with the ball at his feet, he was also exceptional in the air. It's testament to his heading ability that one of the greatest saves ever made, courtesy of Gondon Banks, was the swatting-away of a goal-bound attempt courtesy of Pele's own noggin at the 1970 World Cup. The great Brazilian went on to score his country's first in the 4-1 final thrashing of Italy with, you guessed it, a fantastic header.
5) JAVIER HERNANDEZ (5ft 9in)
Mexican magician Hernandez certainly knows how to pull a rabbit out of the hat, delivering a superb 'backwards' header for United against Stoke in 2010/11, to demonstrate his goal scoring ingenuity. With United desperate for points in the title race, Chicharito nonchalantly flicked a cross played behind him off the back of his head for a superb goal.
6) EUSEBIO (5ft 9in)
The iconic Benfica player was a small yet powerful striker who smashed defences to pieces with his clever dribbling and devastating right foot, reputedly trained through a poor childhood of only ever having one boot to play with. For a player that scored hundreds of goals for club and country, he was equally adept at finishing with his head, using his powerful frame to leap above taller opponents.
7) ALLAN CLARKE (5ft 10in)
Known as 'Sniffer', Clarke was signed for Leeds from Leicester in 1969, for a British record transfer fee of £165,000 by Don Revie. The Alan Shearer of his day, Clarke was a powerful forward who scored his fair share of headed goals, including a memorable diving header to win the 1972 FA Cup final at the expense of Arsenal.
8) LUIS GARCIA (5ft 7in)
"He's 5ft 7, he's football heaven" sang the Kop when little Spaniard Luis Garcia was gracing Anfield. A bag of tricks just as liable to score a screamer as give the ball away in a dangerous area, Garcia scored some memorable goals during the Rafa Benitez era at Liverpool. For a player of such short stature, however, Garcia is a superb header of the ball and once scored a header from outside the box whilst running AWAY from goal, directing it into the far corner. In fact, despite once playing alongside 6ft 7in Peter Crouch, Garcia was still more dangerous in the air than the big England striker!
9) HENRIK LARSSON (5ft 10in)
Former Celtic striker Larsson could lose a defender in an instant, leaving himself with bags of space to send the ball careering into the back of the net, using that brass neck to generate power and give the 'keeper no chance.
10) ANDY GRAY (5ft 9in)
talkSPORT's very own Andy Gray was once British football's arch exponent of the headed goal. A fearless forward who would put his head where others feared to stick their boot, such was Gray's ability in the air that you would be forgiven for thinking he was some kind of giant. Instead, Andy's prodigious leaping ability enabled him to steal a march on defenders and torment defences while playing for the likes of Dundee United, Wolves, Villa, Everton and his beloved Rangers.
Words by Andrew Watson