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By James Nalton.
It hasn’t taken Carlos Vela long to make an impact in 2020.
In the Americas, where the seasons often run through one calendar year rather than across two as they do in Europe, a player can slide out of the spotlight for those months between November and March. We were only one day into March when Major League Soccer‘s Mexican star stepped right back into it.
A wondergoal against Inter Miami spread around the world via the MLS and Los Angeles FC Twitter accounts. They made the wise decision to publish clips of goals and highlights on Twitter, allowing users to share them on without fear of a DMCA takedown or a Twitter ban.
It makes lots of sense for a team, and a league, which has always aimed to be a global power but has never quite reached those heights.
In Vela, the league has one of the best forwards in the world. One who broke MLS’s regular-season goalscoring record in 2019 as his team won the Supporters’ Shield (league title), and is already off to a sensational start in 2020. They are right to shout about it and are wise to allow everyone else to do the same.
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On top of the natural interest generated by a high-profile Hispanic star such as Vela, LAFC were also playing one of the most talked-about expansion teams in MLS history.
With David Beckham at the helm, Inter Miami had something of a global profile before they had even kicked a ball. They already have a passionate following and have the makings of a team which will reflect that, led by head coach Diego Alonso and a silky but hard-working Mexican star of their own, attacking midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro.
This ensured Vela’s strike created more headlines than it might from a run of the mill MLS fixture: ‘Vela spoils Beckham’s party’.
In truth, Inter Miami never really stood a chance of winning against LAFC who remain the best team in the league. Bob Bradley’s side are once again favourites to win the Supporters’ Shield and to go one further to claim the MLS Cup in the post-season playoffs.
But Alonso’s side put in a resilient, encouraging display, and were ultimately only defeated by a moment of magic from Vela.
“All you should be allowed to ask me about, and all you should be allowed to write about is the goal,” LAFC head coach Bradley told the media afterwards.
“When you come to see football and the game is determined on a play like that, which was a combination of determination, the people around them, strength, and holding guys off, and still with an idea of how he could get away, the position of the goalkeeper, and to finish it off with that delicate chip-in was just incredible.”
These weren’t Vela’s first goals of 2020. He has already helped his team secure progress in the (Concacaf) Champions League, scoring twice in a second-leg turnaround against Mexican side Club León, securing a 3-0 victory which saw the West Coast club triumph 3-2 on aggregate.
They will face another difficult task against Mexican opponents Cruz Azul in the quarter-finals, but with Vela firing, LAFC could make their mark on the continent as they have domestically in MLS.
Although at 31 a player might often be considered past their peak, it feels like Vela is in the midst of his prime years, and though it will be difficult to improve on last campaign, he could be set for one of his best and most successful seasons yet.
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