Soccer is a game of many specialist positions, and that of a goal hanger (or poacher) is up there with the most important.
Here, we explain everything you need to know about the art of goal hanging in soccer and introduce you to five legendary pros who had the art down to a tee.
What is goal hanging in soccer?
Goal hanging is another term for poaching in soccer and describes the act of positioning yourself in front of the goal. Goal hangers have a knack for finding the right position and have impressive goalscoring records to show for it.
While some goal hangers do a lot of good work outside of the box, others are practically anonymous for large parts of the game, only springing to life when the ball becomes active in the opposition penalty area.
Let’s take a look at what goal hanging is and why it’s such a specialist role in soccer that only a handful of legendary strikers have mastered in the professional game.
How do you goal-hang?
We’ve opted to describe goal hanging as an art because it’s often unfairly considered negatively. However, we believe that goal hanging takes a lot of practice to get right, particularly because of the offside rule.
The trick to goal hanging is positioning yourself in the best possible location in front of the goal, which will give you a great chance to score a goal for your team. Of course, if the offside rule didn’t exist, you could simply stand on the edge of the penalty area and wait for the ball to arrive at your feet.
But offside makes goal hanging a skill that is difficult to master. You need to stay in line or behind the defenders while still posing a significant goal threat. As such, to be an effective goal hanger, you need to have excellent positional sense and be adept at losing your marker.
So, the key to goal hanging is finding space in and around the penalty area while staying onside and posing a threat to the opposition. Let’s take a look at some tips that will help you goal-hang like a pro striker!
Tips for goal hanging in soccer
When you start playing soccer as a kid, the role of a goal hanger isn’t viewed favorably. After all, standing in front of the goal waiting for the ball to arrive to you isn’t exactly showing good team spirit!
But as you get older, goal hanging becomes an art, and it’s an effective way to score goals for your team. Here are five tips that will help you improve your efficiency as a goal hanger, which should result in decent returns for your teammates.
- Understand the offside rule: Offside is the biggest issue that goal hangers face in soccer. If you get ahead of the defensive line when the ball is played forward, you will be flagged offside. So, if you’re planning to goal hang, you need to understand and adhere to the offside rule.
- Keep moving: When you’re stationary in the opposition’s penalty area, you become easy to mark out of the game. As such, to successfully goal hang, you need to keep on your toes and be constantly on the move. This ensures that you’re ready to pounce when the ball comes forward.
- Work on your positioning: One of the most important aspects of soccer is positioning. So, when you’re looking for goalscoring opportunities in the penalty area, you need to position yourself in the ideal spot. Look for gaps between your opponents and play off the last shoulder to gain an advantage.
- Practice shooting drills: To be an effective goal hanger, you need to be deadly from close range. There’s little point in getting yourself in excellent positions in the box, only to miss chance after chance. So, spend some time out on the practice field working on your shooting, and you will be rewarded during matches.
- Be selfish: The sign of a clinical soccer striker is that they’re not afraid to shoulder responsibility and take shots on. So, to succeed as a goal hanger, always look to get a shot away when you’re in and around the box instead of passing it off. The best forwards in the game are selfish, and it’s a key part of becoming a goalscorer.
Is goal hanging the same as poaching?
Goal hanging is also known as poaching in soccer. A poacher is a forward who plays on the last line of defense and is always looking for an opportunity to take a shot on target.
It’s fair to say that “poacher” is a more official term than a “goal hanger,” with the latter often reserved for the playground or within youth soccer leagues.
Still, both terms accurately describe the practice of hanging around the goal area, waiting for an opportunity to score a goal. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five of the best goal hangers in pro soccer, so you can look to a role model when perfecting the art of scoring goals.
Five of the best goal hangers in pro soccer
Ruud Van Nistelrooy
The Dutchman Ruud Van Nistelrooy enjoyed an extremely successful career and played a starring role at Manchester United and Real Madrid. Although besieged by injury, Ruud was as clinical as they come.
Incredibly, Van Nistelrooy scored 95 goals in the EPL, and only one of them was from outside the box. This just goes to show how clinical a goal hanger he was, and he’s a great person to base your game on if you’re an aspiring striker.
Jermain Defoe
Diminutive and slight, Jermain Defoe is one of the finest goalscorers in the history of English soccer. He represented his national team and enjoyed a successful career, playing for Tottenham Hotspur, Glasgow Rangers, and Toronto FC, among other clubs.
While he often had a minimal impact on proceedings, Defoe came alive in the box and was as sharp as they come. His finishing skills were exquisite, and he has an outstanding goalscoring record in the EPL to be proud of.
Filippo Inzaghi
One of our favorite soccer quotes of all time was said about Italian striker Filippo Inzaghi:
“He doesn’t know how to play football. He just knows how to find the right space.”
This is what Dutch master Johan Cruyff had to say about Inzaghi, and we have to agree with him! Outside the box, Inzaghi was non-existent. But his finishing was the best in the business, and he scored more than 300 career goals. A genius goal hanging forward!
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose is the man with the most World Cup goals in the history of the game. But if you watch each of his sixteen goals, you will notice a pattern – they’re nearly all unremarkable.
See, Klose had a knack, just like Inzaghi, for finding the right spot at the right time. His genius was that he made everything look so simple, and he’s undoubtedly one of the finest poachers soccer has ever seen.
Gabriel Batistuta
Argentinian legend Gabriela ‘Batigol’ Batistuta is one of the finest center forwards to ever play in Europe. While he was a clinical goal hanger, he was also sublime from a little further out, too.
If you watch a reel of Batistuta’s best goals, you will see a cascade of diving headers, long-range power drives, and spectacular acrobatic efforts. A genius in front of goal.
Recap: What is goal hanging in soccer?
As you now know, goal hanging is a term that is used interchangeably with poaching. When a player goal hangs, they put themselves in the best possible position to score a goal, often while making only slight movements that outwit their opponents.
If you want to become a goal hanger, we recommend modeling your game on one of the pros above – as they were all established, clinical goalscorers you can learn a lot from!