Why has a clip of David Clifford, viewed over 38 million times, gone around the world?

Twitter – or if we must, X – is often a pretty hideous place. But every so often, a chink of light breaks through.

Remember when Sky Sports had the rights to the All-Ireland football and hurling championships? Each weekend there’d be a flood of confused viewers in Britain turning to Twitter to voice their thoughts on what they perceived to be our lawless blood sports. Great times.

There’s an enduring sense of delight when Gaelic games break through to the wider, unenlightened world. Such as Clare under-20 goalkeeper Mark Sheedy’s penalty save earning the number one spot in SportsCentre’s Daily Top 10 on ESPN back in May – there’s a pride that comes with seeing people from around the world watching our sports utterly agog as to what is going on.

Remarkably, the World Cup has found a much more receptive international audience than the electric All-Ireland Senior Football Championship we’ve been enjoying this season. And yet, one moment from the All-Ireland semi-finals found a warm embrace online.

David Clifford’s penalty attempt during Kerry’s game Dublin at Croke Park on July 12th was perhaps surprising fodder for social media. Evan Comerford saved the initial strike, only for the Fossa man to catch the rebounding ball and dispatch it to the back of the net. It was a long way from the best goal the Kerryman ever scored.

The GAA’s social media team shared the 36-second clip of the score on X. In the week since it was posted, it’s been viewed 13.7 million times. For comparison, the other goal in that game, scored by Kerry’s Sean O’Brien, has been viewed only 39,000 times. So what is going on?

We can probably start in the replies? They’re a skit. Everything from confusion to contempt as international viewers tried to wrap their heads around what they were watching.

“What in the handball, football, basketball, rugby is this sport?” one X user inquired, while another asked, clearly mistaking Clifford for his fellow 13 Cristian Romero: “Did everyone in the stadium blink at the same time or something? How was this goal allowed?” Those who speak Gen Z will enjoy the “First in my bloodline to know this sport” take, and another reply was beautiful in its simplicity: “What the f**k is this?”

But one particular sentiment saw two footballing worlds collide. “What in the Maradona,” a replier remarked, the Clifford video coming at just the right time to draw such parallels, three days before Argentina’s World Cup semi-final against England.

A repost along those lines was what saw the Clifford clip really take flight, garnering a whopping 24.6 million views and almost 900 comments beyond the GAA’s original post. “If Argentina get a penalty on Wednesday,” Oli Fisher captioned his retweet of the video.

The joke was obviously playing on the conspiracy theories going around that Fifa were allowing Argentina to bend the rules as they saw fit.

Fortunately for all Messi & Co pushed past England with an above-board 2-1 win to reach Sunday’s decider against Spain.

Forty years after Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal against the collective old enemy at the 1986 World Cup, Kerry have their own hero drawing attention from around the world, and showing a similar divine touch for goal.

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