In a thriller that captured the attention of football fans worldwide, Türkiye secured a 3-1 victory against Georgia in their Euro 2024 opener on Tuesday.
The standout moment came from the young star Arda Güler, who struck a magnificent goal from approximately 30 meters out, leaving a lasting impression on the game.
With the score tied at 1-1, Güler's exceptional goal not only put the Crescent-Stars in the lead but also stamped his name in history as the youngest player to score in their debut match at the championship.
At 19 years and 114 days old, Güler surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo's record, who achieved the same feat at 19 years and 128 days during the Euro 2004 hosted by Portugal.
The bright star of Real Madrid also became the youngest player to score for Türkiye in Euro history.
This historic night sparked a frenzy of searches for "Arda Güler" globally, according to data shared by Google Türkiye, with a sharp spike during the match hours.
Looking at the trend over the past year, the peak was reached on July 2-8, 2023. It is worth noting that Güler officially joined Los Blancos on July 6.
The highest point in Google searches was reached on Tuesday.
The resonance of the goal's beauty undoubtedly contributed to this surge in interest.
Renowned Spanish newspapers like Marca (which described the goal as "Arda Güler and a museum-worthy goal"), As, El Pais and Mundo Deportivo showered praise on Güler's goal, while the English press turned their spotlight on both the match's atmosphere, pace, excitement and Arda Güler's performance.
Sid Lowe from The Guardian described the match as the most beautiful one he has witnessed in the tournament so far.
James Horncastle, the world-renowned football writer for The Athletic, lavished praise on Arda Güler in his post-match article.
Güler's teammates were also impressed by his goal. Among the messages, the most notable was from Real Madrid's Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who posted "Arda Abi" (Brother Arda).
Arda Güler had previously mentioned in interviews that due to Turkish traditions, he addresses older teammates like Luka Modric as "Luka Abi" (Brother Luka), and most of them understand the significance of the term "elder brother" and also call him "Arda Abi."
