Favre hails Arango
Borussia Moenchengladbach boss Lucien Favre has hailed midfielder Juan Arango as one of "the best left foots in the world" after his stunning 48-yard goal against Mainz at the weekend.
It was Venezuela international Arango's fifth goal of the season – all of which have been extraordinary efforts. His latest offering came after the Mainz goalkeeper made a clearance towards the sideline and without stopping the ball Arango lobbed it into the empty net, securing a 2-0 win over Mainz and leaving his team-mates and boss standing in awe of his shooting ability.
"That goal was a beauty," Favre said. "He scores incredible goals this season. That goal against Frankfurt, the goal against Wolfsburg. This is incredible. Arango is one of the best foots in the world. Without his goals it would be tough for us"
Gladbach striker Mike Hanke also weighed in with praise for his team-mate, telling Express "We watched scenes from the Mainz game. When Juan scored we stood up and applauded. It is amazing what he can do with his left foot. That was the goal of the year!"
Youngster Patrick Herrmann, 21, admitted that he would never be able to score such a goal, claiming: "It is madness what he can do"
But Arango was modest about his ability and played down the praise claiming he was just happy to have got his name on the scoresheet.
"It honours me how the fans celebrated me," he said. "It is a special feeling. I was happy to score such a goal for them and to celebrate a home win with them."
However, he was quick to put the focus on the last Bundesliga game of 2012 on Friday when Gladbach, currently eighth and only three points behind Dortmund in third, travel to runaway leaders Bayern Munich.
"We will not give away the points easily," he said. "They have a very strong team. But we want to take something home."
