It had been a rough few weeks for American soccer fans, but finally they have something to be happy about.
The U.S. Men's National Team hit a low point when the Americans fell to lowly Trinidad & Tobago. That, along with a confluence of results in other matches, including a phantom goal for Panama that never should have counted, meant the U.S. would not participate in the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Manager Bruce Arena resigned from his role, and American soccer fans were left to wonder what the future of the team would look like with stars like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Tim Howard likely finished with their international careers.
Enter Timothy Weah, the 17-year-old son of Liberian soccer legend George Weah who is leading the United State through the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
On Monday, Weah netted a hat trick for the U.S. side in their knockout stage match against Paraguay, the first hat trick for an American in the knockout stage of a World Cup at any level. With the 5-0 win, the Americans advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament in style, including this insane shot from Weah that was his second of the match.
"The second goal was special," Weah said after the game. "As a striker I don't get to score a lot of beautiful goals. After I scored I didn't know how to react for a few seconds. The blood was pumping but I couldn't believe what I had done. I didn't have a lot of time to think about it but the form with which I hit that strike was perfect... It was a one-in-a-million shot I would think."
Timothy's father was the first African player to win the Ballon D'or and is currently a candidate to become president of his home country. While George is already in the history books as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Timothy is making a name for himself as a future star for the American side.
Weah is playing his club ball with the Paris Saint-Germain academy, where he could grow into an even more fearsome player. But at the present moment, U.S. soccer fans are getting a good look at him playing wearing red, white, and blue, and he's shining.