By KEVIN KOCZWARA
Camilo Sanvezzo’s scissor kick volley against the Portland Timbers in Week 32 of the season was named Major League Soccer’s 2013 AT&T Goal of the Year on Thursday.
Sanvezzo scored plenty of goals this season for the Vancouver Whitecaps, but none of his league-leading 22 goals were as spectacular as the volley that he struck against the Timbers. The 25-year-old Brazilian hit a perfectly timed volley from a Y.P. Lee cross that beat this year’s Goalkeeper of the Year, Donovan Ricketts.
Sanvezzo’s goal received 47 percent of the fan vote. Diego Valeri’s goal against the New York Red Bulls on the opening night of the season finished second in the voting with 30 percent of the vote. New York’s own Thierry Henry’s bicycle kick against the Montreal Impact in Week 11 took home 11 percent of the vote along with the New England Revolution’s Juan Agudelo’s backheel chip against the Chicago Fire in Week 25.
This is the third consecutive year that a player from a Cascadia team has won the award. Seattle Sounders’ Patrick Ianni won the award last year and the Timbers’ Darlington Nagbe won it in 2011.
Here’s a video of the goal and a list of all the previous winners:
AT&T Goal of the Year Winners:
2012: Patrick Ianni – Seattle Sounders
2011: Darlington Nagbe – Portland Timbers
2010: Marco Pappa – Chicago Fire
2009: Landon Donovan – LA Galaxy
2008: Will Johnson – Real Salt Lake
2007: Cuauhtémoc Blanco – Chicago Fire
2006: Brian Ching – Houston Dynamo
2005: Dwayne De Rosario – San Jose Earthquakes
2004: Dwayne De Rosario – San Jose Earthquakes
2003: Damani Ralph – Chicago Fire
2002: Carlos Ruiz – LA Galaxy
2001: Clint Mathis – NY/NJ MetroStars
2000: Marcelo Balboa – Colorado Rapids
1999: Marco Etcheverry – D.C. United
1998: Brian McBride – Columbus Crew
1997: Marco Etcheverry – D.C. United
1996: Eric Wynalda – San Jose Clash
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What do you think of Sanvezzo winning the award? Was he deserving? Did someone else get snubbed? Which is the best goal on the list of all-time winners? Share your thoughts below.