A lot goes down on the pitch in any given match. For In the Moment, we talk to a player about a specific play from last week’s match, letting them give an inside view of the play as it developed.
Against New York Red Bulls, Romario Ibarra came on at the half for Abu Danladi and made an immediate impact on the game. In the 50th minute, he found a gap on the left side of the box as forward Angelo Rodriguez corralled a long diagonal cross from defender Francisco Calvo. After Rodriguez rounded and fired, the ball ricocheted directly into Romario’s path and he took care of the rest.
Romario Ibarra (via translation): In the moment when Calvo sent the cross over to Angelo, I thought the ball would eventually get to me. But in my head, it was Angelo first, and he would send the pass over either as a header or off his chest so I could come in get the shot. But I got it off a rebound and scored.
I knew it was where I should be because our first goal was scored off a similar play. My teammate [Abu Danladi] scored the first goal from a very similar spot on the field and I knew if I could get in between the right back and the centerback, I would have a good opportunity to make the goal and I was right.
Angelo had a great game. He was a key piece in us getting three points. He’s very strong and can hold the ball up against defenders and that helps us a lot. It gives us [as forwards] time to run so the ball gets to us.
It’s a little difficult, but it’s the second time in my career that I scored a goal like that. You should see the first one — that one was hard! During the week, I made a similar goal in training and so it was something that came a little easier for me in that moment. Five out of 10.
