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SBI MLS Goal of the Week: Diego Valeri

DiegoValeri2 (getty)

By IVES GALARCEP

The opening week of the 2013 MLS season delivered some quality goals, and it wasn’t easy to pick the best one, but ultimately it was the debut goal from one of the weekend’s most impressive newcomers that stood out the most.

Portland midfielder Diego Valeri’s beautiful goal in Sunday’s 3-3 draw vs. the New York Red Bulls is the SBI MLS Goal of the Week, narrowly beating out Davy Arnaud’s exquisite  game-winning finish for Montreal against the Seattle Sounders.

Here is Valeri’s goal:

What did you think of the goal? Which MLS goal in Week One stood out the most to you?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Great choice for ESPN game of the week. Games like this are a great advert for our league. I have friends in Europe and Central America (a Timbers fan in Nicaragua, no less) who commented on facebook how good the game was. Valeri is a great addition to the league. More possession soccer and fewer balls over the top; that’s gotta be the future of a league.

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  2. Valeri’s 4 touches through traffic in the box without the ball hitting the ground all while sending Olave the wrong way with his shoulder feign as he flicks it over Olave and slots through two more defenders to deftly touch it into the net. Yeah, that’s a squibbed goal.

    Not to take anything away from any of the other goals up for (or not up for) GOTW, but you don’t see this kind of skill often. That was a thing of pure beauty and would have been equally as amazing in any league in the world, although, you might be able to argue that Olave’s juke would have been better handled by a world class CB, maybe.

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    • Let’s start a meme. From now on, all who push the canard that there’s no defense in the Eredivisie shall be known as Flat Earthers. (Or Polder Punks, if you prefer.)

      (On account of Holland being flat as well as the group of people who cling to wrongheaded beliefs despite plain evidence to the contrary that…you get the picture.)

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  3. Wait, was it a shot or a freestyle juggling display gone right? The GK was watching the juggle and counting touches until it was too late to react. Great goal.

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  4. Did anyone have a stranger game this week than Olave? Generally solid, even scored a goal, but victimized by Valeri on the first goal, caught ball-watching on the second goal, and scored Portland’s third goal. Can you be Man of the Match for both teams?

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    • Weird game for Olave, indeed. Physically he looked sharp and even showed that he’s still got killer speed (on one play he outran a Portland forward to chase down a through ball). So maybe it’s just a beginning of the season thing — basically what appeared to be plaguing both defenses.

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      • Olave could have been the goat of the match if a PK gets called when he pulled Baptise down in the box!

      • Portland ended up scoring soon after that non-call. Also, I think it was Pearce who dragged him down by the arm with two hands.

      • Yeah, that was the general response I heard–oh well, worked out. But fails to recognize the added benefit of playing against 10 men the rest of the game: surely he’d have to see the red if the ref makes that call (which he most certainly should have).

  5. Great goal by Valeri, but Arnaud’s was better. The skill that he showed to take it down and evaluate the situation quickly before lobbing Gspurning with the outside of his right foot was sublime.

    While Valeri showed a lot of skill as well, he really squibbed his shot even though it still went in.

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    • “…suibbed his shot”? That looked like it was done by design to me, mate.

      Arnaud’s goal was sweet but Valeri’s goal was just as sweet, if not sweeter. Loved them both – great opening weekend. More of that please!

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    • I dont think it was a “squib” at all, you don”t have to put your foot through the ball (as Arnaud usually does) to score great goals.

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      • Didn’t say that you have to put your foot through the ball, but if you watch the last part of the replay, he winds up to put his foot through it and doesn’t make the contact which it appeared that he was going for. I’ll concede that my initial characterization of it as a squib was wrong, but he clearly wasn’t going for a subtle touch on his shot.

        Don’t get me wrong, it was a fabulous goal. I just thought all of the elements to Arnaud’s was better executed and better, that’s all.

      • You need to watch it again. He was clearly kicking it with the outside of his foot so that the ball would go where it went. You can tell by the angle of his toes.

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