There are absurd comebacks, and then there's what the Earthquakes did against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night during the MLS Is Back Tournament in Orlando, Florida.
Shea Salinas' winning goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time gave the Quakes a 4-3 win. Salinas gathered the ball just in front of the halfway line, and, well, any words I could write about the ensuing solo effort wouldn't do true justice to its bonkers nature.
Just watch for yourself.
San Jose erased a two-goal deficit owed, in large part, to an utterly ridiculous own goal in the 22nd minute and a brutal giveaway from goalkeeper Daniel Vega in the 59th minutes.
Neither of these gaffes were mentioned sooner because, again, they must be seen to be believed.
What was shaping up to be a banner night for the "mLs iS bAcK" crowd turned into one where you couldn't help but earnestly say the league's all-too-on-the-nose tournament name.
It began with the 63rd-minute introductions of Chris Wondolowski (MLS' all-time leading goal-scorer), Carlos Fierro, Danny Hoesen and Salinas off the bench. Wondolowski needed fewer than 10 minutes to cut the Whitecaps' lead in half, adding to his record goal tally with a headed ball that basically missed everything in its path before bouncing off Vancouver defender Ali Adnan's head as it crossed the goal line.
Fewer than 10 minutes later, defender Oswaldo Alanis equalized with a header off a corner kick and sent his teammates into bedlam.
Salinas ultimately capped off the comeback, and a night of unrelenting pressure on the Whitecaps.
A three-goal comeback, with goals from club veterans Wondolowski and Salinas? You could forgive the Earthquakes' social-media team for wanting to party like it was 2012.
Mixing the fundamental weirdness of a tournament behind closed doors at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex with the chaotic energy that drove Alan Gordon, Steven Lenhart, Salinas, Wondolowski and Co. to the 2012 Supporters Shield crown is an appealing cocktail in a time (relatively) deprived of live sports.
The Quakes will have a tough time topping Wednesday's win in Sunday's match against the Chicago Fire, but it's OK to admit you'll want to see them try.
Sports
Earthquakes, Shea Salinas pull off most bonkers comeback you'll see in 2020 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
