There wasn't really a lot of positives from the Whitecaps' Voyageurs Cup run this year.
They made it tough for themselves against Edmonton and then went down with all guns firing blanks in Toronto.
On the plus side, there was Darren Mattocks' first competitive goal for the Caps against the Eddies and Eric Hassli's wonder strike equaliser against TFC at BC Place.
And what a sweet strike that was.
FIFA seem to agree, for Eric has been nominated for the 2012 Puskás award as one of the top ten goals of the year.
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Hassli is in good company alongside the likes of fellow nominess Lionel Messi and last year's winner Neymar.
It's a fantastic honour, especially considering the goal came in the Canadian Championship and not even MLS, and some good publicity for the Whitecaps on the world stage.
If nothing else, it may help raise awareness of the importance and credibility of the Voyageurs Cup to the general footballing public here, although probably not.
Is Eric's strike worthy of a top ten nomination? Does he have a shot of winning?
Judge for yourself. <a href="http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/puskasaward/index.html" target="_blank"><b>Here's the ten nominees and where you can vote</b></a>. You have until November 29th to get your votes in.
I find it a rather strange selection. I'm sure we'll all have seen some better goals this year than some of the ones on the shortlist. From those nominated, I would go for Gastón Mealla's acrobatics.
The awards ceremony will be held on January 7th in Zurich. With Hassli's connections and old bromance partner Davide there, it will be interesting to see if he ends up coming back to Canada or finds himself staying and returning to the Swiss League.
Good luck Eric, and for one more time, here's his strike in all it's glory. It never gets old.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PNGhOE3XyCg
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