One of the most impressive long-range soccer goals in a while came from Real Salt Lake midfielder Pablo Ruiz Saturday. In the 41st minute of a road match against D.C. United, Ruiz spotted that United keeper Tyler Miller was off his line. He let a strike fly from well on his own side of half, and it beat a diving Miller to the top corner of the net, as seen above:
Pablo Ruiz scores from his own half. 😱 #RSL pic.twitter.com/uDft9GoRkD
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 18, 2023
As Ari Liljenwall noted at MLSSoccer.com, this is the second beyond-midfield goal in MLS in a week. Last Saturday, Lucas Zelarayán of the Columbus Crew also scored from great distance in the 93rd minute to give his club a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire. Here’s that goal for comparison:
LUCAS ZELARAYAN FROM MIDFIELD TO WIN IT IN STOPPAGE TIME 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/LfHqeJ6i7c
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 11, 2023
But Ruiz’s goal Saturday was from even further out. He shot from 68.24 yards from goal, versus 60.98 for Zelarayán. And many were even more impressed with what he did:
Oh my word….this may be better than Zelarayan…. @realsaltlake #RSL #MLS pic.twitter.com/DS9ANe7MsD
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) June 18, 2023
The technique on this is RIDICULOUS from Pablo Ruiz… I think it’s better than Zelarayan- although his was last minute to win it. I don’t know… both insane lol. Wow pic.twitter.com/eku6ogphpM
— Stu Holden (@stuholden) June 18, 2023
Not exaggerating here – this goal, by Pablo Ruiz, is one of the best long-distance efforts in MLS history, if we're talking 50+ yards. It honestly might be the best, given the angle, fact that he hits it on the fly, upper 90 more or less. Just ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/Gm7eZb287B
— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) June 18, 2023
🚨HALF FIELD BANGER. Pablo Ruiz pulls up from his own half for Real Salt Lake. MLS becoming league of midfield bangers.
You would’ve thought Wayne Rooney – a midfield strike artiste – would’ve warned his team about these.
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) June 18, 2023
This strike from the 24-year-old Ruiz helped lead RSL to a 2-1 win. It also impressed his coach, Pablo Mastroeni:
After the match, RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said he was left in just as much awe as the rest of us at the spectacular strike.
“I’ve seen very few of those. I remember when I was playing, ironically against D.C. United when I was in Miami, [Marco] Etcheverry scored a goal from midfield [for United] as well,” Mastroeni said. “But I think this one, the angle in which he put it in, the distance from which he shot it, the execution was top-class.
“Throughout our scouts, our coaches did a great job identifying that Miller plays off his line and then as the game was progressing he was very aggressive in his positioning and we said just to keep your eye on it. Pablo has a wand for a left foot. And it’s an amazing football play, I’m super happy for Pablo. … I don’t know what to say about it, but what I will say is it was a master-class of skill, execution, vision.”
This certainly was an incredible goal. And it got the soccer world talking.
