10 Favorites? 2008-09 Champions League

Since I now have full member-status, time to flex my new privileges with a question:

What were your 10 favorite goals from the last tournament?

This list will be so far from being definitive that I won’t even bother putting them in order from worst-to-best, more chronologically, but here goes:

1. Fitzpatrick Gregory Richardson, New England Revolution vs. Joe Public – His second goal right before halftime, when he faced down two defenders and Matt Reis, cut away from goal towards the endline, and then managed to rifle one in. Yes, it was against New England, but it still looked nice.

2. Edwin Aguilar, Tauro FC vs. Chivas USA – His second one as well, when he dribbled from midfield, took advantage of the Chivas’ preoccupation with marking his teammates and put the icing on the cake of winning the first game in the new tournament.

3. Jairo Arrieta, DC United vs. Deportivo Saprissa – I actually stood up when I saw his shot go in.

4. Pablo Zeballos, DC United vs. Cruz Azul – Nothing against DC, but I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw Sir Alex’s quip about a goal possibly going in off “someone’s bum” proved true.

5. Dwayne de Rosario, Houston Dynamo vs. San Francisco FC – DeRo being clutch, nuff said.

6. Ramiro Brushi, Montréal Impact vs. Olimpia – A nice chip over Matt Jordan right before halftime, and credit to him for being level-headed enough to try it while braving the oncoming Canadian winter.

7. Edwin Miranda, Puerto Rico Islanders vs. Santos Laguna – A well-taken long-distance goal in what was my third favorite game in the entire tournament, after Santos against Montréal and Santos against Atlante (yes, I see the trend, and yes I would have liked to see them win the tournament, but there’s no denying that they were just awful on the road).

8. Eddie Sebrango, Montréal Impact vs. Santos Laguna – Oswaldo’s reaction on the second goal was priceless, but I’m going with the first because it filled everyone in the Olympic Stadium with belief and drive that led them to win this game. And yes, massive kudos for the attendance as well.

9. Giancarlo Mal-criado, Atlante vs. Houston Dynamo – The name-altering is only for his celebration, but I’m really a fan of his game, and a sucker for rockets that hit the crossbar and go in.

10. Darwin!!!, Santos Laguna vs. Atlante - If, 20 years from now, I ever have an itch to think about moments from this tournament that are still fresh in memory, Quintero’s exquisite chip over Federico Vilar will be there.

And two honorable mentions to said Vilar for his goal at Olimpia (I’m also a sucker for goalscoring goalies), and to Sandy Gbandi for his goal for Puerto Rico at Cruz Azul – the goal itself deserved to make the list, but I held it off because it was unreflective of how badly his team played that night.