Gershon Koffie has had quite a week. He signed a contract extension with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, received his Canadian Permanent Residency papers, and finished off a lovely six-man passing play to score the opening goal of the 2013 season at BC Place. Now he’s been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Week award, to be voted upon by fans across the league.
Koffie pounded home a right footer after Daigo Kobayashi Maru’d him a one-touch pass amid all kinds of red Toronto FC shirts. (That’s not just some lame Star Trek reference. Count them in the video below, you’ll see eight TFC players watching four Whitecaps make pretty passes to each other in the danger area. The Maru thing? Yeah, that’s me geeking out.)
More, including video of the league’s top five goals, after the jump. Hey, while you’re here, why not give a lousy five bucks to my Ride to Conquer Cancer campaign?
The goal was a quality effort, starting well on the Vancouver side of centre in the 59th minute with defender Andy O’Brien, and involving fully half the white shirts on the field before it was done. O’Brien put a long ball forward to Darren Mattocks, who with his footspeed and ball handling is being touted as a star in the making. Despite being marked by two TFC players, Mattocks calmly headed the ball back three metres to YP Lee. Lee engaged in a give-and-go with the much-maligned Kenny Miller, who was wearing the captain’s armband after an early injury to Jay DeMerit. Lee attacked the area and found Kobayashi standing on the 18-yard line. The Japanese national, playing his first game in North America, deftly tapped it to a streaking Koffie, who settled the ball before rifling it past Joe Bendik just inside the near post. 1-0 Caps. Game winning goal. Season opening goal. Highlight reel stuff.
It’s the kind of controlled ball movement through multiple zones on the pitch that Whitecaps fans haven’t seen much of in the first two seasons of the franchise. Sure, there have been moments of excitement, but they’ve mostly come from frenetic sprints onto hopeful Hail Mary passes, or sprung out of defensive lapses from the opposition. This goal to start the 2013 season is different. This is five solid players making sound decisions with the ball, finding teammates and moving into intelligent forward positions. This is smart usage of angles. This is level-headed decision-making, with and without the ball. This is good, well-structured football.
The other nominees for MLS Goal of the Week include Federico Higuaín of the Columbus Crew, Montréal Impact captain Davy Arnaud, Real Salt Lake sniper Alvaro Savorio and Diego Valeri of the Portland Timbers.
Usually these sorts of fan votes add up to counting the number of rabid fans in each city. If we’re honest about the quality, however, this is a two-horse race between Koffie and Valeri. Savorio ran onto a nice forward ball, and finished nicely, but it was hardly a breathtaking piece of work. Arnaud’s flick and the pass to set him up are amusing, sure, but Goal of the Week? Nah. And Higuaín’s strike was nice, off the post from long range, but let’s be frank: who can’t score a goal against Chivas USA?
If Gershon Koffie is to be denied MLS Goal of the Week honours, it should be at the hands of Diego Valeri. The Argentine accepted a one-touch pass in the danger zone, then juggled the ball from foot to chest and back to foot again, darting it to the far post before it could touch the ground. He did all of this at top speed, with three defenders and a keeper closing in on him. It’s a remarkable solo effort by Valeri, but I just can’t bring myself to vote for someone wearing a dirty, rotten, stinkin’ Timbers jersey, no matter how pretty his goal is.
To vote for Gershon Koffie, text G1 to 22442 or head to the news story on the Whitecaps FC website. To vote for Valeri, look up the instructions yourself, you lazy so-and-so. Either way, enjoy the video below. MLS season is upon us!
The Whitecaps host the Columbus Crew on Saturday at BC Place, with the opening kickoff going at 4:30pm local time. Get thee to a stadium, soccer fan! (Or huddle with your favourite brew in front of a TV, I suppose — the game is on the S-Pac as well.)