Back page This week Moments of Magic heads to the United States and looks at the MLS Goal of the Year from 2005, courtesy of Dwayne De Rosario.
#9 Dwayne De Rosario v LA Galaxy, 2005
The MLS produces its fair share of wonder strikes, and a name that crops up quite often is that of Dwayne De Rosario, a Canadian currently playing for Toronto FC.
The 31 year old forward picked up the MLS Goal of the Year award in both 2004 and 2005 – the only player to receive the award two years in a row.
His 2004 effort against DC United saw him fire home a stunning volley from the edge of the penalty area, but it is his 2005 free kick that we have chosen to focus on.
Having been fouled 25 yards out from goal, the then San Jose Earthquakes player stepped up and hit a sublime effort that bent around the wall and flew into the top right hand corner of the net, giving goalkeeper Kevin Hartman no chance.
The strike received 36.51 percent of the over 45,000 final round votes cast by fans to finish ahead of the other four finalists – Carlos Ruiz, Clint Dempsey, Jason Kreis and Freddy Adu.
De Rosario has been capped 48 times for Canada, scoring 15 goals, and was voted the MLS Cup MVP in 2001 and 2007.
Check out his other stunning strikes on YouTube.
