Here are the details on Darlington Nagbe winning the MLS fan vote for goal of the year:
Major League Soccer on Wednesday announced that Portland Timbers midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe is the winner of the 2011 AT&T Goal of the Year for his juggle and volley into the top corner of the goal on July 2 against Sporting Kansas City at Jeld-Wen Field.
With the Timbers trailing Sporting Kansas City late in the first half, Nagbe scored his first professional goal in spectacular fashion. Controlling a clearance by juggling the ball twice in the air, the rookie then unleashed a volley from outside the penalty area that knifed into the upper left corner of the goal. Click here to watch Nagbe’s goal.
The goal was named one of the Top Plays on ESPN’s SportsCenter that evening and won ESPN SportsCenter’s ‘Best of the Best’ poll every day for a full week, earning more votes each day than another top play from around the sports world. Within days, the highlight surpassed one million views on YouTube and has been reviewed more than 1.5 million times. In addition to being named MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week in Week 16, Nagbe’s incredible goal was also named the Timbers’ 2011 Play of the Year.