"Manchester United Legend George Best: Vintage Interview On The Eve Of The Champions League Final, Part 1" (Sabotage Times - Friday, 5/27/11) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Ken Fogarty, Best , Terry Park Ray Hudson , Gerd Muller, Fogarty, Roy Wiggamensen, Best Best vs Quakes Antonio Simoes
Going back into the video archives, the Greatest Goal Ever by Best is still the most entertaining, best referral item for getting newbies interested in the history of the Earthquakes. "See? That's Spartan Stadium! Packed house seeing history. Now get your ass out to the game!"
30 year anniversary of that goal is coming up as that game was played on wednesday, July 22, 1981. The goal came in the 56th minute therefore, between 8:30 -9:00 PM PST. I was among the 11k+ in the crowd. Considering all the goals and important matches that Best played in Europe, to have him score his greatest goal ever in San Jose is something pretty special. I don't believe San Jose Quakes & Nasl fans at the time knew exactly how important of a player Best was. It was like living a dream. When I see all the players who have come thru the MLS since 1996, I don't think very many match George Best's skills. As a matter of fact, none did.
There were many who thought Best did not play all that well during his time in San Jose. He was somewhat inconsistent, although I am not sure I am qualified to make any judgements regarding his play. I base my comments more on his statistics while with the Quakes and on the opinions of people who know more than me. That said, he unquestionably had moments of brilliance, one of them being that great goal against Ft. Lauderdale and the recently deceased Jan Van Beveren in goal. In Best's defense, sometimes it seemed like he did things that no one else actually understood....like he was seeing the game develop more quickly than the rest of the team, so he made passes that people did not expect or expected passes that teammates did not make. It seemed like he often played frustrated. The Earthquakes, during the years that George Best played, were a very low budgeted team, one of the lowest, if not THE lowest, in the NASL. They didn't spend much money for players to support him. Guys like Slavko Licnar and Vasa Rutonski didn't exactly set the league on fire. They did pick up Gary Etherington, an American forward who was converted to an exciting overlapping fullback after Carl Berg bought the club and brought in Don Popovic as coach. That later team arguably rivaled the championship teams.
George Best & Johan Cruyff '80 Dips v Quakes Best leads the Aztecs Best with the Ft Lauderdale Strikers vs California Surf
Not an endorsement of the product, just thought the T-shirt was cool. http://www.ebay.com/itm/George-Best...435127?pt=US_Mens_Tshirts&hash=item4ab1416df7
NASL Seattle Sounders at Los Angeles Aztecs Dave Gillett (17), George Best (11), Adrian Webster (16) George Best (11), Dave Gillett (17) Seattle Sounders vs. Los Angeles Aztecs