At first it was an amazing play that overshadowed Lionel Messi in his own charity game.
Then it was one of SportsCenter's top plays for the month of July.
And now it's official -- Matt Eliason's bicycle kick-seen-around-the-world has earned him an MLS tryout.
As first reported on the Northwestern University sports blog Sippin' on Purple and later by David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune, Eliason has begun a one-week tryout with the New York Red Bulls.
Eliason, the leading scorer in Northwestern history, was not drafted and missed a tryout with Sporting Kansas City because of a broken foot. He was working as a corporate risk analyst at GE Capital when his college coach, Tim Lenahan, texted him to see if he would want to participate in Messi's charity game. He did.
In the 28th minute of that match, Eliason had his back to the goal when he chested a pass from French star Thierry Henry. Eliason popped the ball up, and in one swift motion he swung his leg up and nailed a beautiful shot just under the upper right crossbar.
The rest is history.
"This has given me a second life,'' Eliason told Haugh. "I think I have the ability to keep on playing.''
