Monthly Archives: January 2020

Family, FC Porto, U20-MNT

Injury Days

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“Success is determined by how you handle setbacks“

Being injured as ANY kind of athlete is never ever easy. Being injured overall no matter what you do sucks, but being injured as a professional athlete is even WORSE. If you’re like me, you like to do what you came to do, you like to feel productive, and at the end of the day, you want to do your job. Think of it as being a software coder and having arthritis, or like being an airline pilot and having bad vision. For me, this injury came at an absolutely awful time, but like they say… it could always be worse.

I suffered a stress fracture in my left foot in my second training back from the holidays, and on the last day of 2019 as well. Approximately one week before the u-20 camp that I had been called into that took quite a bit of convincing to let Porto release me for. Originally, the doctors didn’t know exactly what it was since it was relatively small(the fracture) but after getting an X-ray they determined it was in fact broken and that I would indeed need surgery. It was a huge blow for me because I was really looking forward to going to camp to prove myself under the new coach just as I had with Tab a couple of months ago. I’m a pretty positive person though, so I looked on the bright side. My Bulgarian roommate had suffered almost exactly the same injury as me and they had let him go home for two weeks… so that’s what I was expecting as well.

At the end of the day, it turns out that since my fracture was smaller, I have a lesser recovery time, thus me going back home would only delay my recovery by the amount of time that I was home. Obviously it’s easier for him to go back home as well because it takes quite a bit of travel for me to get back to Dallas. Anyway, the surgery went well and I’m 2 weeks in now and my foot is healing nicely, but it has been tough having to watch my teammates train and it always gives you a new appreciation for the game that you love. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you truly love something until you lose it, even for just a little bit. My family more than anything has helped me stay positive because it has been tough mentally, and some of my best friends have been there for me as well, helping cheer me up. All in all, injuries are part of the game. This wasn’t my first one, and although I would like it to be, it most likely won’t be my last one either. For anyone in a situation like mine, the best thing you can do, is accept the situation you’re currently in and make the best out of it. Strengthen other parts of yourself and stay positive through the process. Keep your head down and time will begin to fly by. Everything happens for a reason.

FC Dallas

MAST Super Group Champions

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The tournament did not start well for the team. However, anybody who knows a thing or two about out of town soccer tournaments knows that playing the host team for the first game is always challenging. You end up playing against their crowd, their fields, their weather, their rules, etc. You then factor in the long flight 24 hours earlier, returning from the holiday break, a fragile roster with depth issues and all bets are off. I must say, the scoreline (1-3) for the first game was deceiving. For those of us who watched the game, it had its moments of decent FCD soccer with SIMA gold elite (SIMA from here on) playing very direct and using their speed to create the more dangerous chances overall. It is important to note that going down 0-1 in the first five minutes of the match (on top of my pretexts given above) against a top quality opponent is like ice-skating uphill trying to come back. At the end of the match, the boys and the coaching staff quickly shifted their focus to the second game…

The quality of soccer improved in the second game against Valencia and the coaching staff finally learned their rules (ex. unlimited substitutions and reentries permitted). Furthermore, FCD did not fall victim of overconfidence and there were no early forced substitutions due to injuries (incredible player management by the club on the eve of a U20 MNT camp). Also, Valencia plays a different brand of soccer so it was easier to stick to a ball possession plan. Overall, Valencia was supposed to be the opponent to beat but my guess is that this was not their “A” team. I find it interesting that a Spanish team would fly 11 hours to come play a “meh” tournament in the middle of their season (according to their schedule, they are supposed to play a regular season game in a few hours). Anyway, the final score was a tie with us conceding a soft goal in the winding minutes of the match for the second consecutive game. We really could have used those two points to secure a smoother pathway to the championship game but hey, live and learn…

Given SIMA’s dominance in their first two matches, it was a “do or die” situation for FCD’s third game against Esporte Clube Jacuipense . On paper, the Brazilians appeared to be the least known and most flexible opposition and that was indeed the case. FCD had the majority of the opportunities with our GK and defense having very little to do throughout the game. FCD went up on the score in the first half with a PK and closed the deal in the second half off of another set piece. 2-0 was the final score and that in conjunction with the continued dominance of SIMA (undefeated in the first three matches) setup a must see rematch for the “championship” game between SIMA and FCD.

Keeping the score tied at zero in the first 20 minutes of the championship game was of utmost importance in order to start playing our game (possession and mental); however, that was almost achieved until a soft PK call was given to the host team around the 10th minute. After going down 0-1, our team realized that PK calls were going to be soft and we ended up benefiting from two in our favor; one of our players is a master of that art. The game quickly turned more intense and aggressive with players on each team earning a red card and some yellows earned in the process as well. This was a battle not just against SIMA, the crowd, the fields, but their long winning tradition. SIMA had never lost this tournament in the 9 years they had organized it. Good job players and staff for the collective and individual hardware…it was a “good ride”. Thank you.

Family, FC Porto, Learning, U20-MNT

Inopportune injury

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You may wonder, is there really a time when an injury is opportune? The answer is a bit subjective. As you may remember, a few weeks back (December 7th to be exact), I posted that there were some good news coming our way; I even stated that it’d be good if the news materialized. As it turns out, I may have jinxed it all.

Injuries are part of an athlete’s life and unfortunately by their own nature inopportune. Players knowingly assume the risks associated with the pursuit of their passion and understand that injuries are sometimes inevitable and inconvenient. However, that inconvenience can reach new levels when injuries are accompanied by either “bad timing” or “high severity”. Unfortunately, in Johan’s case, both were present.

For starters, the injury occurred right before the U20 MNT camp in Bradenton, Florida next week (that was the good news from a month ago) in preparation for CONCACAF qualifying in June. “Timing stinks” would be a complete understatement. The injury could have happened at any other time but it had to take place right before camp…sigh. Furthermore, this was not just a muscular injury; it required surgery (albeit minor) which immediately exacerbated its magnitude.

On the bright side, the surgery went well and Johan couldn’t be in better hands. The procedure is going to speed up recovery and it will inevitably be testing his mental, spiritual, and emotional toughness. As a family, we can’t deny how disappointing the timing and the severity of the injury were; however, we know everything happens for a reason. We now have to regroup and figure out “that” reason.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us

Romans 5:3-5

In the end, we know Johan will come out of this much stronger and despite the temporary setback, he will overcome adversity as he has done so in the past. He is in great spirits, very optimistic and surrounded by his loving family, friends and teammates. Be patient son. #somosGuerreros = #theGomezway