Shaqueel van Persie’s astonishing overhead kick needs to be studied for science | OneFootball

Anybody with a high-achieving family member will have grappled with the pressure of living up to unspoken expectations.

There are usually two paths available: overthinking every life decision in the quest for approval that will never come, or making peace with the situation and tentatively finding your own way in life.

Shaqueel van Persie has discovered a third way – emulate your father by scoring jaw-dropping sh*tpingers.

His father is, of course, Robin van Persie, the legendary striker at Arsenal and Manchester United (although pretty despised by fans of the former these days).

Van Persie regularly scored goals so breathtaking that oxygen cannisters would be supplied to spectators fortunate enough to witness them.

He’s the manager of Feyenoord these days and picked his 19-year-old son in the squad to face city rivals Sparta Rotterdam.

Rotterdam is one of Europe’s more underrated football cities, with three clubs in the Eredivisie, and De Kuip is a proper barn of a stadium, with a low roof and an atmosphere akin to a midnight walk down an unlit alley.

Feyenoord are one of several clubs locked in purgatory; a huge fanbase and glittering history, but excluded from the upper echelons of the European game by systematic greed.

Their reduced circumstances has at least promoted the use of young players, with Van Persie showing faith in his teenage son by introducing him as a 63rd-minute sub with Feyenoord trailing 2-0.

Shaqueel came through the Manchester City academy and played as if the ball was a lifelong friend, such was his care and precision with it.

The two teams traded a further goal each before Shaqueel really set to work, narrowing the deficit to 3-2 with a smart backheel.

And Feyenoord fans barely had time to extinguish their fireworks before Shaqueel gave them another collective orgasm.

Contorting his body like Playdoh, the youngster met Luciano Valente’s delicate chipped cross with a stunning bicycle kick.

Considering the Dutch love of bicycles, we can hardly think of a more fitting way for any Eredivisie player to introduce themselves.

It’s worth noting that Feyenoord still managed to lose 4-3. They are winless since the start of December. History will sideline both facts and focus on the majesty of Shaqueel’s first two career goals.

“The way I see Shaqueel is as one of the players,” the manager said after his son’s debut last November.

“This is what we both agreed to a couple of years ago when we already worked together. Shaqueel was handling that really well, I am too in my opinion.”

Accusations of nepotism abounded after his first team bow, with the Premier League icon defending his decision by saying: “Shaqueel is a player who can score a goal from all angles.”