View and vote for Giannakopoulos's half-volley

It was counterattacking football at its devastating best and culminated in a stunning half-volley by Stelios Giannakopoulos that settled Olympiacos FC's debut match in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

The sixth-minute strike, to which FC Porto had no answer, came on 17 September 1997 and is one of the contenders in UEFA's best goal poll. Now seasoned campaigners in Europe's premier club competition, the Piraeus outfit were taking their first steps among the continent's elite against a team that had reached the quarter-finals the previous season.

If Olympiacos were unsure of what to expect as they made that step up in class, there was nothing tentative about the way Giannakopoulos unleashed a dipping right-footed shot that left the stranded Rui Correia grasping at thin air.

"There was a corner for our opponents and [Georgios] Anatolakis got the ball away with his head. The ball went left to Alekos Aleksandris, who passed to [Ilija] Ivić, and the whole team executed a counterattack," said the retired midfielder, a UEFA EURO 2004 winner with Greece.

"Right after the centre circle, Ivić lifts his head and passes with his left foot on the run. Approximately at this point I take the ball and have my first touch. On the run, the ball bounced once and with my second touch I sent the ball into the top-left corner of the goal. It was a very difficult shot, but when the keeper is outside his area and the ball is lobbed, there is no chance for him to save it."

Watch and rate the goal for yourself here.