Eric Hassli (born 3 May 1981) is a French former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

Early career

Hassli began his career at his hometown club

Sarreguemines FC Sarreguimines Football Club is a French football club from Sarreguemines, Moselle, Lorraine. Founded in 1919 and formerly known as Association sarreguiminois de football 93, it plays in the Regional 1, Lorraine, the sixth level of the French fo ...

. In 2000 Hassli moved west to play for

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

. In 2002, he moved on loan to England to play for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He scored two goals in eight matches for Southampton's reserve side but made no appearances for their first team. Southampton decided not to sign Eric Hassli permanently and so he returned to Metz.

Start in Switzerland

Six months after returning from

Hassli was on the move once again. He moved to Switzerland to play for

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (F ...

in the 2003–04 season. His time at the club was not a success as he struggled to break into the first team. He managed just thirteen appearances, scoring two goals. At the end of the season he moved to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

to play for Servette FC of the Swiss Challenge League. However, on 4 February 2005, the parent company of the club was declared bankrupt. It had run debts of over 10 million Swiss francs, having not paid the players since the previous November, and consequently the club suffered an exodus of players looking for paying clubs. Hassli left to join

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

of the Swiss Super League, a club in the very east of Switzerland.

Breakthrough in Switzerland

The transfer to FC St. Gallen proved the making of Hassli. His time at the club enhanced his reputation as he scored 18 goals in 47 games.

Return to France

At the end of the 2005–06 season. Hassli attracted the attention of plenty of clubs and returned to France to play for newly promoted

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

in Ligue 1 during the 2006–07 season. Back in France he had to settle for a place in the reserves as he only made 21 appearances, scoring 2 goals.

Return to Switzerland

At the end of the season he returned to Switzerland to play for

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

. During his first season at the club, the 2007–08 season, he struggled to find his rhythm. In February 2008,

Daejeon Citizen Daejeon Hana Citizen Football Club ( Korean 대전 하나 시티즌 축구단) is a South Korean professional football team based in Daejeon that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. At the time of its foundation in 19 ...

in the

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

attempted to bring Hassli, but they could not bring him due to his high transfer fee. He remained at the club despite this and during the 2008–09 season he regularly topped the goalscoring charts. While with Zürich Hassli scored 35 goals in 108 competitive matches.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 4 March 2011, Hassli signed with the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

of Major League Soccer as the team's first

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. Swiss media reported that Hassli was granted an early contract termination by

, allowing him to leave on a free transfer to Vancouver. He made his debut for the Whitecaps on 19 March 2011, in a game against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

, scoring two of his team's four goals, one of which was the club's first goal in MLS competition. In the Whitecaps' 11 June 2011 match against the Seattle Sounders, Hassli scored two goals: the first from the penalty spot; the second a volley from an apparently harmless position on the right edge of the 18 yard box that flew into the top left hand corner. The latter has been called one of the best goals in MLS history. In a May 2012 Canadian Championship match against Toronto FC, Hassli scored with a volley in stoppage time. The goal was nominated for the 2012

FIFA Puskás Award The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the male or female judged to have scored the mo ...

Toronto FC

On 20 July 2012, Hassli was traded from the Whitecaps to Toronto FC in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and an international roster spot. Hassli remained a

Designated Player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

for Toronto FC, with Toronto needing a replacement for

Danny Koevermans Danny Koevermans (born 1 November 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Early career Born in Schiedam, Koevermans began his career with the amateurs of Excelsior'20, then went to Sparta Rotterdam ...

who suffered an ACL injury. Hassli made his debut for Toronto on 4 August, in a 2–1 loss at the hands of Chicago Fire, Hassli was subbed out in the 61st minute for

Andrew Wiedeman Andrew Dennis Wiedeman (born August 22, 1989) is a retired American soccer player, who played as a forward. Career College and amateur Wiedeman played college soccer at the University of California, where he earned numerous individual honors ...

. Hassli scored his first goal for Toronto in his second game as a red on his home debut against Portland Timbers 15 August, the game ended in a 2-2 home draw.

FC Dallas

On 4 February 2013, Hassli was traded from Toronto FC to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

in exchange for a second-round 2014 MLS SuperDraft pick. Hassli and FC Dallas mutually parted ways ahead of the 2014 season.

San Antonio Scorpions

On 18 March 2014, the San Antonio Scorpions announced that Hassli had signed for the 2014 season. The franchise ceased operations following the 2015 season.

Las Vegas Legends

On 2 December 2014, Hassli made his only appearance for indoor squad

Las Vegas Legends The Las Vegas Legends are a semi-professional soccer team based in Paradise, Nevada. They play in the National Premier Soccer League, a fourth-tier league in the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded in 2012 as an indoor socce ...

against

Ontario Fury The Empire Strykers are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Ontario, California. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the Professional Arena Soccer League at the start of the 2013–14 season. The team plays its home gam ...

in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassli, Eric 1981 births Living people People from Sarreguemines Sportspeople from Moselle (department) Association football forwards French footballers French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Canada French expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Swiss Super League players FC Metz players Southampton F.C. players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players Servette FC players FC St. Gallen players Valenciennes FC players FC Zürich players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Toronto FC players FC Dallas players San Antonio Scorpions players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Designated Players (MLS) North American Soccer League players Major Arena Soccer League players Las Vegas Legends Footballers from Grand Est Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Switzerland French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland