Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Heading into just their third season of existence, Miami FC’s biggest impact in the league has without question been in the headlines department. Bringing in star players Romario and Zinho from the 1994 Brazilian World Cup Champions made quite a splash. While the impact of the two players may not have led to a title, they left their marks individually on the field and did reach the postseason in their first campaign.
Romario shared league scoring titles in 2006 as he worked his way toward his 1,000 goal milestone eventually accomplished back in Brazil in 2007 while Zinho proved to be a respected leader on the field, improving the young players around him and earning All-League honors both seasons.
Zinho has now left the field, but remains on the sidelines as the club’s new head coach. His playing experience far outweighs any coaching credentials his peers around the league may boast, but as a first-time head coach the challenge will be transferring that into the play on the field.
Despite Zinho leading the team in scoring last year, Miami was out of the postseason picture most of the campaign but kept their chances alive with a five game 4-0-1 run just after the midway point. The streak, however, gave way to a six-game winless run (0-1-5) that left them at the mercy of other teams’ results after finishing the season with a 3-2 win over Charleston – it proved not enough as Carolina grabbed the last berth by one point.
The 2008 Season
Zinho’s continued presence with the club may already be showing dividends on the player acquisition side with the addition of former Venezuelan First Division champion Juan Pablo Galavis (midfielder/forward), a pair of Brazilian attacking midfielders Caue da Mata and Leandro de Souza and Brazilian striker Alex Afonso, a top five leading scorer in the First Division Sao Paulo Championship – the nation’s top regional league.
In a league in which retaining a core group of players from year to year has proven to be a critical component in team chemistry and club success on the field, Miami has developed a nice group of three-year players in Stephane Guillaume, John Pulido, Walter Ramirez and JP Rodrigues that is led by Sean Fraser. Also returning from last year are second leading scorer Eric Vasquez and Sean Cameron.
The First Five
Based on last year’s results, Miami opens the season primarily against mid-table opposition and has only one road trip. The Blues host the Charleston Battery, who finished 10th last year, on April 12 and then face third-place finishers Montreal a week later. They hit the road the following week for two matches in Puerto Rico against the Islanders, who finished sixth last year, before returning home to take on the second-year Carolina RailHawks, who edged Miami out for the eighth and final playoff berth last year.
