Bradley's Olimpico

On This Day in 2015, Midfielder Scored the Winner Directly from a Corner Kick in the US's Victory over Panama

Pressure was mounting on Jurgen Klinsmann and the U.S. Men's National Team. Since their dramatic World Cup opener victory against Ghana in Brazil seven months earlier, the Americans had managed just one win in nine matches while conceding a series of deflating late goals. The latest setback came in a 3-2 loss to Chile, where defensive lapses once again proved costly.

"I'm not saying it's OK that we haven't performed well," forward Jozy Altidore said before their February 8 match against Panama. "I'm not saying that we shouldn't be upset with ourselves because we represent the country. But saying that, keeping that in mind, I think you have to look at what we're trying to do, the transformation, trying different players, and be patient with that."

The friendly at StubHub Center marked the conclusion of a month-long January camp during which Klinsmann experimented with formations and evaluated new faces. After using a three-man backline against Chile, he reverted to a more familiar four-defender setup against Panama. The visitors brought extra motivation, still carrying the sting of their dramatic elimination from World Cup qualifying when the U.S. scored twice in stoppage time in October 2013.

"There's a lot of respect from our end," Klinsmann noted pre-match. "[Panama has] a very competitive group here and they probably have a little bit still in their stomach to forget a day that was really a disaster for them."

After 27 uneventful minutes, Michael Bradley provided the spark the Americans desperately needed. The Toronto FC midfielder stepped up to take a corner kick and delivered what's known in international soccer as a "gol olimpico" – scoring directly from the corner. Bradley's expertly placed kick curled into the far side netting, leaving Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo helplessly watching as the ball nestled in the net.

The rare feat was named in 1924 when Argentina's Cesareo Onzari scored directly from a corner kick against Uruguay, three months after FIFA made such goals legal. Because Argentina had just won the Olympic gold medal, the achievement was dubbed "gol olimpico."

"You'd have to ask him whether he was aiming for that because we didn't know," Clint Dempsey said with a laugh after the match. While Jozy Altidore was positioned to head the ball if needed, Bradley's perfect bend made any intervention unnecessary, marking his 13th international goal spectacularly.

The Americans doubled their lead ten minutes later when Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes made an assertive run through midfield before threading a pass to Dempsey, who finished clinically past Penedo for his 40th international goal – second only to Landon Donovan's 57 in U.S. men's history. This finish will go underlooked compared to Bradley's, but Dempsey receives the ball running toward the goal and pulls a step-over before his first touch, leaving the goalkeeper in his wake before finding the empty net.

"Coming out of a little bit of a difficult period, it was an important game for us," Bradley reflected afterward. "Maybe this isn't the most important game we'll play this year, but while it wasn't perfect, we were able to do a lot of good things. It sets the groundwork for the rest of the year."

The 2-0 victory not only snapped their winless streak but also marked the end of a month-long training camp. Most importantly, they avoided the late defensive collapses that had plagued them since the World Cup. With the CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup qualifying on the horizon, the Americans had finally found something positive to build upon.