Gyasi Zardes “I CAN DO THAT” spot with Brighton Lee Sagal for TOCA
The world flooded with celebs pushing products pales into oblivion compared to this sincere and honestly adorable exchange between a top soccer pro and a 6 year old — in a cool 30 second spot.
Well known to soccer fans for his goal scoring, LA Galaxy’s forward Gyasi Zardes (Twitter) is a young, 24 year old soccer stud who pairs up with a bright-eyed youth soccer player who clearly dreams of being a soccer star when he grows up in a newly released 30 second spot for TOCA. This 6’2″ player — who may dazzle us on the U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team as part of Klinsmann starting line up — is challenged by a pint size player who says, “I can do that.” A homegrown California born player, Zardes is probably young enough to remember when he was a youth soccer player dreaming of becoming a professional player. Now, Zardes has played in nearly 100 MLS games and earned 26 caps with the national team.
“I CAN DO THAT” stars Gyasi Zardes and 6 year old Brighton Lee Sagal — who also plays for the LA Galaxy on the U8 youth soccer team. The spot is for TOCA, which was founded by Eddie Lewis, a former US National Team player.
Back Story: “Gyasi came in to the LA GALAXY SOCCER CENTER in Torrence to do a bit of TOCA training and an interview for TOCA TV,” said Jared Sagal. “My son, Brighton was there also training with TOCA. I had the idea of getting Brighton and Gyasi in the same TOCA cage and see if they would play a game of “I CAN DO THAT” — Zardes was totally up for filming it and so we began. I decided to just let the cameras roll during the skills training and then I picked the best moments.”
People might wonder how long did this take to film? How much staging went on behind the scenes? Is this raw footage edited or really a commercial produced to look natural and like a reality piece? I wondered…. and, therefore asked!
“Some of the skills took a bit extra to get the right shots but, all in all, the entire shoot took about 45 minutes,” said Sagal.
“Of course Gyasi was pretty consistent on the machine and Brighton — who just turned 6 years old — has been doing TOCA for a year, so he was pretty quick getting the shots down and is used to being in from of the camera given what I do for a living … ”
What was it like working with Gyasi?
“Gyasi was incredibly gracious and one of the nicest pros you will ever meet,” said Sagal. “He hung out after to play a bit with Brighton and take a few pics.”
Aware that a pro players technical ability and first touch are critical for success, Lewis created the Touch Trainer — a machine which precisely delivers balls at specified speeds, locations, and trajectories for an accelerated training experience. It allows players at every level to practice their touches repetitively, improving their technique and elevating their game. Gyasi actually owns his own TOCA machine and this was not a “hire a celeb to endorse a product and read a script” commercial. Check it out — and say hi to Gyasi Zardes on Instagram,
Toca has training centers in Torrance and Costa Mesa, CA – Colorado Springs, CO, Norcross, GA and Tyler, TX.
National team action image of Zardes from his Instagram page. Los Angeles Galaxy MLS game against the Seattle Sounders image credit: Photo Works / Shutterstock.com
