Malte Amundsen and The Pass

Throughout sports history, events have been given names that speak to their magnitude. Baseball has given us the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” San Francisco 49ers’ receiver Dwight Clark gave us “The Catch.” Unfortunately, Browns fans know all about “The Drive” and “The Fumble.” Crew fans now have one of their own: The Pass.

How It Happened 

The Crew had taken a 1-0 lead over LAFC on a Cucho penalty kick in the 33rd minute of the MLS Cup final. A few minutes later, they had moved the ball well enough to move nearly all of LAFC’s defenders into the middle and left thirds of the field. After Malte Amundsen received a pass from Darlington Nagbe, he spotted Yaw Yeboah breaking in behind the lone defender on the right third of the field. Before LAFC’s Denis Bouanga could close the space between them, Amundsen sent a pass into the 18-yard box that the streaking Yeboah calmly collected and put a shot past Maxime Crepeau to cushion the Crew’s lead.

Not A Routine Play

Amundsen’s pass to Yeboah was not just any old pass. It was a PERFECT pass. This was a nearly 40-yard, perfectly-weighted gem of a delivery. If it were a regular season game, you’d probably see the highlight here and there. But The Pass happened in the biggest MLS match of the year. Not only that, it led to what proved to be the Cup-winning goal. You’re going to see this highlight shown again and again for a very long time.

I’ve already watched it countless times since last Saturday. No matter how many times I see it, The Pass is still a thing of beauty. I think it’s safe to say Crew fans will never get tired of watching The Pass.