The power of technology has made Vancouver Whitecaps FC striker Eric Hassli’s spectacular goal against Seattle Sounders FC one of the most publicised MLS moments in recent history. The amount of coverage and exposure the volley has created on a worldwide basis has been incredible.
Upon returning from Qwest Field with a thrilling 2-2 draw and enthusiastic feelings on the breathtaking moment, evidence began to pour in that YouTube viewership of Hassli’s wonder-strike had reached the 1,000,000 mark in less than 48 hours.
The blogosphere quickly took notice of Hassli’s wonder-strike as well. Through a simple Google search of the phrase, “Hassli Blogs”, the number of results is simply shocking for one single moment in any soccer match. Hassli’s goal has accumulated approximately 1.23 million website blog reactions, while searching his name into ‘Google Images’ returns over 123,000 results.
With headlines like: “MLS Goal of the Year”, “Best MLS Goal Ever”, and “Hassli’s Strike Receives World-Wide Attention”, the impact is flourishing not only inside the soccer world, but also with the mainstream sports community. Radio and television stations picked up on the story as momentum began to poor in following the astonishing goal. However, in the coming days, the one million mark soon seemed pale in comparison by the end of the week’s numbers.
- By the end of June 12, not even 24 full hours after the match, print media surrounding the hype had published over 150 different stories of coverage from a wide range of media sources.
- That number skyrocketed by the end of June 15, with over 506 articles composed across North American news outlets including: The Vancouver Sun, The New York Times, The Montreal Gazette, The Seattle Times, The Miami Herald, Fox Sports, ESPN and Sports Illustrated, among others.
- By Thursday afternoon, the compilation of YouTube videos totalled nearly 4.7 million views from 30 different videos posted on the global video website.
- With soccer as the world’s game, the goal was also featured internationally on news outlets such as England’s BBC and Sky Sports News and France’s L’Équipe, as well as in countries such as Switzerland, Australia, Portugal, Peru, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Serbia, Mexico and Turkey, just to name a few.
Hassli and the rest of his Whitecaps FC teammates will look to produce another spectacular highlight this weekend as they take to the field this coming Saturday on Bell Pitch at Empire Field (watch live on Rogers Sporstnet Pacific, listen on TEAM 1410 Radio or teamradio.ca) when they play host to Eastern Conference foes Philadelphia Union FC. Kickoff for the match is set for 7p.m. PT.
