ERIK HURTADO scored a stunning “Van Basten-esque” goal to help his side Sporting Kansas City defeat Nashville in the MLS.
Hurtado, 29, hit a sublime volley as he came off the bench to lead his side to victory.
Hurtado sent fans in a frenzy with his stunning strike against NashvilleCredit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.
After the game he said: “I’ve done it a handful of times, in college, back in high school, middle school, but never on a big stage like that so it’s pretty cool.”
The strike was so good it had fans comparing it to Dutch legend Marco van Basten’s volley in the final of Euro 1988.
Sporting’s manager Peter Vermes heaped praise on Hurtado and called the volley “world-class.”
His team-mate Johnny Russell also chipped in and said: “I don’t think people understand how hard that technique is and he executed it perfectly.
“I said that to him at the time, I couldn’t believe, to be honest, what I’d seen and I could see that tonight would probably take a little bit of something special and he more than produced that.”
Van Basten scored his wonder-volley in the final of Euro 1988Credit: Getty – Contributor
The Soviet keeper tried in vain to stop the strikeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The goal sent Twitter into a frenzy and had fans debating if the goal was as good as Van Basten’s.
One fan said: “F***ing hell. Strong Van Basten vibes from Erik Hurtado last night.
“What a hit, son. Couldn’t get any sweeter if you dipped it in a pint of Nutella.”
Other fans seemed to agree.
Another said that the goal was even better than Van Basten’s.
But not all fans agreed and one said that there was no comparision between the strikes.
Hurtado was traded to Sporting Kansas City on December 14, 2018, in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft and a first-round pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft.
Despite his wonder-strike, he is not a regular starter for his club and has only featured in three games this year.
But he has scored some important goals for Sporting and he came off the bench to score the game-sealing goal with another sweet volley in a 3-1 victory at Vancouver Whitecaps FC back in February.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
