WATCH: Japanese footballer scores ‘goal of the season’ – but did he mean it?

A stunning Koike Yuta strike from an almost impossible angle during Kashima Antlers' 2-0 win against Jubilo Iwata in the J-League has flummoxed football fans online, with some unsure if the player even intended to score.

Up until last weekend, the 22-year-old Yuta was still waiting for his first professional goal but he very much got past that hump with a stunning, Puskas Award-contender strike during his side's home victory on Saturday.

Yuta, who plays as a left fullback for the J-League outfit, received the ball on the flank and, after winning a duel with a Jubilo Iwata defender, volleys the ball in the direction of the goal where it floats over the goalkeeper and into the net, doubling the Antlers' lead five minutes before half-time. 

Whether or not Yuta actually intended to score with the stunning strike has been a source of debate online. His body language immediately after scoring suggests to some that the goal was nothing more than an errant cross ending up in the back of the net, while others point out - correctly - that a grand total of zero Antlers players were supporting Yuta in the box to actually receive a cross.

Regardless of the intentions behind it, the goal stands as much as any other and helps keep alive the Antlers' title hopes as they are currently eight points behind FC Tokyo (with a game in hand) at the halfway point of the season. Jubilo Iwata, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the table with just 14 points from 18 games.

The goal harks back to similar strikes from Roberto Carlos more than a decade ago in the colors of Real Madrid, as well as a spectacular strike from Papiss Cisse for Newcastle against Chelsea in 2012.

While the social media community appears to have given those two players the benefit of the doubt with regard to their intentions, it seems that the same hasn't exactly been afforded to Koike Yuta.