Beasley: Fagundez’s Golazo ‘World Class’
- Updated: March 7, 2016
Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com
The ship may have sailed on Diego Fagundez donning the jersey of the U.S. Men’s National Team, but that didn’t stop a longtime member of the program from giving props to the Revolution midfielder on his third-minute golazo during Sunday’s 3-3 season-opening draw between New England and Houston.
Dynamo fullback DaMarcus Beasley had a front row seat for Fagundez’s blast, which was hit from 25 yards before it swerved out of the reach of keeper Joe Willis and punched the orange twine.
“We cleared it out and the man hit a great shot from 25 yards out,” Beasley told the media after the match. “You can’t really say too much about that. It happens all around the world. You can’t really defend it. If you’re going to nitpick, the clearance could maybe go out a little further but he hit a world class strike.”
True, the defending should have been much better on the Dynamo’s part. But the fact that Fagundez took advantage in a masterful way speaks to the talented 21-year-old’s shooting ability more than the hosts’ inability to clear the ball in a part of the field where many goals don’t often come from.
“Great goal,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps told the media after the match. “We were fortunate, but Diego read it well. Two other players went up for one, and I thought Diego did a nice job of reading the play, and getting a good second ball. Diego can get balls, he’s a guy that can put it in from distance.”
Fagundez, for his part, pointed to the team’s approach in the early moments as one of the reasons he was able to put himself in position to score the stunner.
“From the start, we said we wanted to have high pressure,” Fagundez, who also assisted on Daigo Kobayashi’s late equalizer, told the media after the match. “Jose (Goncalves) gave a long ball, once the ball was in the air, I was trying to get the second ball. Part of the game plan.”
But pressing high was only half the battle behind the goal that took the sails out of the Dynamo, which had put the Revolution on their heels in the opening moments.
“Once I saw the ball and took a touch, the first thing I thought was to take a shot,” Fagundez said. “I took a shot and saw the ball going in and it felt good, because it one on those things that you work so hard every day in training to try and score these goals. When you get a chance and you actually finish it, it’s great.”
While Beasley and his teammates could only shake their heads in dismay following the long-distance strike, the U.S. veteran fullback, who’s seen a few remarkable efforts over the course of his decorated career, said that there wasn’t much the Dynamo could do once the ball jumped off of Fagundez’s foot.
“I don’t fault anybody,” Beasley said. “It was a great goal.”
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