Talking sheer quality here. I obviously haven't seen them all, and have forgotten even more (many from pre-1998). I can think of a couple. Mathis free kick v. Honduras in 2001 WCQ. Mathis' goal v. South Korea in WC. McBride's header v. Portugal in WC. The header itself wasn't the most difficult in the world (though it was class), but the whole buildup was a thing of beauty. I vaguely remember a free kick v. Germany in a friendly (in either 1997 or 1999?) taken by either JMM or Kirovski, don't remember which. I'm sure there lots of others.
Goos had a nice free kick against ??? in the Gold Cup last year. We were all like, where did that come from. But I'll have to go with the "shot heard round the world."
Yup, gotta go with Caligiuri's. Honorable mention (in no particular order): Waldo's vs. Switzerland '94 Stewart's vs. Colombia '94 McBride's vs. Mexico '02
Caligiuri is an interesting choice, but does it meet the criteria as being "quality"? It was more of a wing and a prayer from midfield which looped into the net. I'm not even sure he meant to do it. But I haven't seen a replay of it for a while so I may not be remembering it too well. It WAS definitely the most important in (recent) U.S. Soccer history.
Tab Ramos spanking a 20-yarder vs. Costa Rica or McBride's header from a perfect Sanneh cross against Portugal.
Not a free kick, but it was Kirovski who scored an un-real opener against Germany in '99. And right before the goal they had gone down to Stone on the sideline who said Kirovski was looking for a breakout game on the national team...I guess it didn't pan out the way they pictured it.
Waldo vs Switzerland was by first thought. Preki's goal vs Brazil was world class Other goals not memtioned Wolff's goal vs Mexico in Columbus Woff's goal in Gold Cup final Dooley's header vs England in 1993 US Cup (cross from Ramos) McBride's goal vs Guatemala in qualifying (cross from Jones). JMM's goal vs Jamaica and Mathis's goal against Barbados. Both those games were needed to qualify last time around.
For sheer quality it would have to be Kirovski's strike against Germany in '99. It was just an absolute laser beam into the top left hand corner of the goal. It's kind of sad to look back on it now because it seemed to be a break out moment for Kiro. But alas this wasn't the case. Honorable Mention: JMM's free kick strike also against Germany in the Confederations Cup later that year. And Tom Dooley's goal against Mexico in the '95 US Cup. After taking a pass from Reyna, Dooley powered past a defender and put a screamer past Campos for the second goal in the 4-0 rout.
surely marcelo has to have some sort of bicycle that warrants mention in here. hell, he has a near miss that is still better than most shots that actually went in.
Re: Re: What's the greatest goal in U.S. history? Kirovski's rocket was in 1999 in a friendly against Germany. Moore hit a free kick against Germany in the 1999 Confederation's Cup. But either way, both were great goals.
I'd say Mathis' against Korea or Wynalda's against Switzerland, though JMM's against Argentina in 1999 (from a sweet Stewart pass) will always stick out for me.
Donovan's against Venezuela was sweet. True, it wasn't as nearly as important as the others, but it was a great goal, nonetheless.
I'll weigh in... I thought Wynalda's goal against Switzerland was brilliant... Besides the goal against Brazil, i seem to remember Preki hitting another bomb against Costa Rica in the same tournament (he cut in from right to left outside the box and hit one upper 90)... McBride against Austria in a friendly before the '98 WC... not for the goal, but more from the pretty feed from Reyna... McBride against Portugal and/or Mexico... Lalas against Argentina in the '95 Copa America (nice backheel flick on a great near post run... good driven cross from Cobi)... Joe-Max Moore against Argentina in a friendly at RFK... Ramos shot in Portland... Stewart blast in Trinidad & Tobago in WC '02 Qualifier (the one that Keough stated, "he hit the snot out of that one") Donovan this year in Seattle... McBride from Donovan against China (great ball from Donovan, classy left footed finish by McBride to the back post)... there's probably more but i can't seem to remember any more... here's a question... for all his prowess in the air, besides the goal against Portugal, has McBride scored another goal on a header for the National Team???
Waldo's goal in 94 gets my vote for both quality and importance. Wasn't Caliguiri's goal also a screamer? If that's indeed true, I would rank it up there with Waldo's goal.
umm, yeah. He scored an absolute beauty against Guatemala in 99 or 00' and he had a header goal off the post and in vs New Zealand a few years ago.
goals >>>>Waldo's goal in 94 gets my vote for both quality and importance.<<<< Yes, i was at the Swiss game when waldo hit that shot... just before half time to tie it.... in terms of importance, that point was a must have, and helped get them into the 2nd round. would we be talking about this if the US didnt get into the 2nd round? also, what about JMM first timing the back heel from ernie stewart (?) against argentina to win the game? now that was a nice one as well
Keep in mind that that was Venezuela, though. Not to take anything away from it. I don't remember Stewart's goal against Columbia. Could someone describe it since I'm sure there's not video of it on the net? Caligiuri's goal when I first saw it and even today never really impresses me. How did the keeper not get it?
I honestly think we would. That was a world class free kick. It was a rocket that bent into the side netting that evaded the keeper's fingertips and the post on the other side each by inches to go perfectly into the upper 90. In fact, put that down as my vote for best U.S. goal. McBride's against Portugal was probably the prettiest, and Mathis's against Korea probably took the most skill. For near misses I'd say Mathis's post against Poland on a full volley from a JMM cross, his screamer against Ireland and Donovan's against Germany in WC02 take the cake. I haven't seen Balboa's bike since I was really little and don't remember enough of it to make a judgement call.
The question doesn't specify "greatest goal by the U.S." so I'm going to go with Park Ji Sung vs. Portugal - perhaps the most important goal of the 2002 World Cup for the U.S. and a real beauty.