The video breakdowns I do after every match are only for open-play goals, but I had so many people ask last night for something, anything, following the USOC Final, so here we go.
The play starts with Daniel Edelman beginning his movement towards the ball, opening his hips slightly as if to shoot right. Tony Meola on the broadcast mentioned this - his body positioning may have led Nico Hagen to go left. You can see Hagen leaning that way just before the shot is made.
But this isn't an analysis of the PK. This is about what came next - Edelman, having just cemented his place in St. Louis soccer lore, uses excellent field vision and awareness to identify that unless he makes a sharp cut to his left, his teammates are going to mob him and prevent him from getting to the other end of the field where thousands of CITY fans awaited him while losing their collective minds.
He points towards the south end, indicating his intended destination, which is read correctly by everyone besides Chris Durkin, who instead of veering right decides to randomly angle across to his left. You would think that as in-sync as Durkelman has been all year he would have read the play bit better, but we'll chalk it up to tiredness.
Damion Downs shows excellent agility here, dodging the now wildly out of position Durkin as he and the rest of the group turn to chase Edelman. Edelman shows a remarkable burst of adrenaline fueled speed after having just played 120' as he races away from everyone WHILE removing his shirt, which would have created extra drag and slowed down anyone else in that moment, roaring past a hugging Tots and Timo, who used their veteran savvy to not have to run any more that night.
Only one player seems to have eyes on catching him - a fully rested Fallou Fall, who starts to close the gap before being cut off by more CITY personnel, allowing Edelman to reach his destination inside the opposing 6 yard box after an impressive 385ft run down the field, finishing with a 16.6ft slide right into St. Louis soccer history.
%20-%20Columbus%200%20(3)){kind=link}