The game was only three minutes old when Victor Lindelof sent a long pass down the right wing from deep inside Manchester United's half. From the edge of Everton's penalty area, Diogo Dalot attempted a cross which seemed to have missed its target, hurtling away behind Alejandro Garnacho as he waited 15 yards out from Jordan Pickford's goal.

But Garnacho was not to be beaten. Turning and taking half a dozen steps backwards, the 19-year-old Argentinian winger leapt into the air and unleashed a bicycle kick. It soared over the England keeper and into the top right-hand corner of the goal.

"It was a jaw-dropping moment," said the former Everton defender Leo Osman. "Everybody was just stunned by seeing a goal of that quality."¹

It is thanks to such moments that soccer is known as "the beautiful game". But does its beauty make it an art?

The Concise Oxford Dictionary includes several definitions of art. One is "a human creative skill". A second is "creative activity concerned with the production of imaginative designs, sounds or ideas". A third is "a skill, aptitude or knack".

Soccer may not involve designs, sounds or ideas, but it obviously does involve skill. And some would argue that at its best it is creative - defined by the dictionary as "inventive and imaginative".

In some sports which are marked by judges, points are explicitly awarded for artistry. They include gymnastics, diving, figure skating, trampolining and synchronised swimming.

Writing in Sport Science Review, Professor Jim Parry defines these as "aesthetic sports." But he does not believe that they can be called artistic.

He argues that art has to be able to express "moral, social, political and emotional meanings". Sport is therefore a craft, like bricklaying or cooking. They can involve a lot of skill, "but that does not mean that a wall or a hotdog is a work of art".

Another writer, David Best, agrees. He points out that most athletes would prefer an ugly victory to a graceful defeat.²

But the philosopher Andrew Edgar argues that sport is art because we can use it as a metaphor to describe life.³ And the existentialistA form of philosophy exploring the meaning of human existence. novelist Albert CamusA French philosopher and author, born in 1913. , who played in goal for his university soccer team, claimed that "what I know most surely in the long run about morality and obligations, I owe to football."

Yes: It can be beautiful to watch and the best athletes have incredible skill and imagination. Most people would not even think of trying a kick like Alejandro Garnacho's.

No: Any beauty in it is purely incidental - all that matters is winning in whatever way you can. People make great claims about football to excuse the fact that they waste their time watching it.  

Or... The definition of sport has become too loose. There should be no marks for artistry and it is ridiculous that breakdancing is to be included in next year's Olympic Games.

Existentialist - A form of philosophy exploring the meaning of human existence.

Albert Camus - A French philosopher and author, born in 1913.