So, as the holiday season was upon us, I got my sons hooked on the MLS Sierra Mist Goal of the Year link, and all I've been hearing all week is oohs, aahs and screams of "No way!" So, what's a good dad to do, but join in the viewing? And guess what happens? By looking at all the Goals of the Week, I come up with 11 goals that I think are better than Cuauhtemoc Blanco's Goal of the Year. I've got them from the most recent to the most in the past ... give them a look:
11. Michael Parkhurst (Week 29): You all know this goal. I'm calling it 55 yards and it's clear that Parkhurst, who calls this his only career goal, knows exactly what he's doing as he looks up, spots the 'keeper off his line and hits a shot for 100 lifetimes. Please ... this one's stupid.
10. Danny Dichio (Week 29): This is an absolutely impossible one-touch lob over Matt Reis. Lucky? Sure. But when I compare it to Blanco's GOTY I think the one thing that makes this goal better is that, unlike Blanco, Dichio had absolutely no setup time. This is a once in a lifetime goal. And you know what's funny? Toronto went like the entire summer without scoring a goal and they've got four Goals of the Week out of 29 listed. Talk about quality over quantity.
9. Paulo Nagamura (Week 27): Has Nagamura ever hit a shot like this in his life? About 37 yards out, a missile that ends up as high into the return address section of the goal as you can get. Honestly, I do not see what Blanco's goal has on this one. Nagamura's shot is farther out, it's completely unexpected, it's, well, perfect. But you'll see later on, I have a certain affinity for the guys who rarely score goals, but somehow get Goals of the Week.
8. Luciano Emilio (Week 26): This goal reminds me of that doctored video Nike sent out showing Ronaldinho banging balls off the crossbar and back. Ever seen it? Well, on this goal, Emilio takes the rebound of a shot off the crossbar out of the air and sidewinds it back into the net (nicely placed in the corner). I do not know that I've ever seen a goal like this in 12 years of MLS.
7. Chris Rolfe (Week 25): As I said with Nagamura's bomb, I do not see what Blanco's goal had over this long-distance bomb from Rolfe. Since I did not see this goal live, as I was watching the highlight clip, I figured as Rolfe picked the ball up about 40 yards from goal, he was going to go on a mad dribbling run into the box. But no. He unleashes a shot from 35-plus that leaves Dario Sala shaking his head on the ground. A wonder strike.
6. Jozy Altidore (Week 19): OK, just so you don't think I'm all about long-distance shots, check out this goal by Jozy. He takes a flick-on from Juan Pablo Angel on the full run heading toward the goal, but when he sees the 'keeper and a defender converging, Jozy pulls the old sombrero on both Toronto players. This one touch leaves him with an empty net to fill. Upon first viewing you may not agree with me on this one, but after watching it a few times, I rank it high.
5. Kerry Zavagnin (Week 17): I go way back with Kerry Zavagnin. All the way back to 1997. I remember watching him every day working with Roberto Donadoni on his ball-striking and, well Z, I guess it took 11 years for some of that extra work to pay off in a lifetime goal from all of 30 yards. This goal is simply ridiculous. First off, Zavagnin hits it with his non-preferred left foot, which sets it higher on my scale than Blanco, who's all about the left. Seriously now, a player can hit 100 shots like this in practice and not achieve this result. This one could be the best.
4. Dwayne De Rosario (Week 16): Dwayne De Rosario is good for one of these a year, at least. This one is so much better, in my opinion, than DeRo's Goal of the Year free kick from years ago. I've never been one for giving free kicks GOTY anyway, but check out this bomb. From beyond the left corner of the box, he swerves one into the top corner far post, just out of the reach of Matt Reis. Sometimes I think a guy like De Rosario, who scores four of these a year, gets the short end when it comes to these awards.
3. Joseph Ngwenya (Week 15): This goal is just silly. Ngwenya takes a pass outside the box and side steps a sliding Jim Curtin and a hard-charging Matt Pickens. Then, as it appears his dribbling has taken him too far, he slips the ball into the net, practically from the end line. Seriously, you could give a guy a bunch of balls in this location and let him set them up and shoot them at an empty net and he's not going to score very often. Still, this goal is about the dribbling.
2. Juan Pablo Angel (Week 11): We needed a header in this list and Angel supplies one, a snap over the head of Jimmy Conrad that goes far post. My favorite part of this goal is when the camera catches Kevin Hartman looking up to the video board at Giants Stadium to see what happened. I'll get arguments because it's not a crazy goal ... but it's quality.
1. Chris Gbandi (Week 7): Another one for the lifetime file. Gbandi, he of the three career goals, lets fly from the left corner of the box and pings it off the far post, top corner, and into the net. Excuse the Real Salt Lake defense for not closing Gbandi down. This was his only goal of the year, so who could've been looking for the shot? Certainly not Nick Rimando.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
