“Straight off the training ground,” Brian Dunseth enthused on the Real Salt Lake television broadcast after Olmes Garcia scored his second goal of the season on a magnificent set-piece opportunity in the first half of Real Salt Lakes’ 2-2 draw with Columbus Crew SC.
That goal is nominated for MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week with the team effort from Luke Mulholland, Kyle Beckerman and Joao Plata resulting in Garcia’s goal.
It was a masterful set-piece goal that started in a position that the players recognized as optimal to execute something that had been dreamed up and practiced on the training ground since preseason. Before the restart, Beckerman, Plata and Mulholland discussed the play around the ball. With all of the pieces in place, Mulholland rolled the ball to Beckerman just above the penalty spot. With one touch, he played Plata behind his marker up the right side. Plata then headed the ball across the goal mouth to Garcia for a first-time shot into an open net as RSL took a 1-0 lead with the brilliantly run play.
“Credit to the players for recognizing that was the right distance to run something like that,” RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar said. “It’s something that you practice and you’re not sure when it’s going to come into use. It did there and the players ran it perfectly.”
As much as the result looked perfect, Cassar conceded that part of that was due to the execution of the players.
“The ball is supposed to actually be on the ground. Kyle dealt with the ball. Joao dealt with the ball and then Olmes obviously dealt with the ball,” he said. “These guys are crazy-talented and they were able to deal with the ball being in the air.”
In the end, the highlight-reel goal landed RSL on television around the world, from SportsCenter in the U.S. to SkySports in England as well as various outlets in South America and others across Europe.
While the international recognition is good, more rewarding for the team is to have training efforts result in goals on the field.
“It’s just nice for the players to be rewarded for something they’ve been working on,” Cassar said.
To vote for Goal of the Week, click here.
