USL Feature
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – When he joined his Houston Dynamo teammates at the Disney Pro Soccer Classic earlier this month, fullback Kofi Sarkodie was still on a high from the U.S. U23 Men’s National Team’s 2-0 victory against Mexico at FC Dallas Stadium earlier in the week.
“Honestly, it’s a great thing and it’s a privilege to be involved with that,” he said. “Right now the team is feeling really happy and hopefully I’m involved in the qualifying rounds. Right now, the eye is on qualifying. From our first game we need to make sure we’re ready to go and be on fire from the start.”
The former Michigan Bucks standout got his wish, being included in the U.S. Squad that will try to qualify for the London Olympics beginning this Thursday at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. as they face Cuba in the opening game of group play.
For Sarkodie, Olympic qualifying is the start of a big summer that has him aiming not only for a place at the Olympics but also in the Dynamo’s starting lineup. The No. 7 selection in the MLS SuperDraft in 2011, Sarkodie started seven times in his rookie season. After learning from his older teammates in his first year in the pros, Sarkodie hopes to get a bigger opportunity in Dominic Kinnear’s side this season.
“Definitely the goal is to establish myself on the team and become a starter,” Sarkodie said. “I think that’s the most important thing, to get minutes. As a player, in any league, you have to play, you have to get minutes, and the more minutes you get, the better player you’re going to become. For me, my goal is to work hard, hopefully make an impression on Dom, get some more minutes and go from there.”
Sarkodie, who turns 21 on Thursday, certainly has the pedigree to be a difference-maker in MLS and for the U.S. U23s. In addition to his experience with the Bucks, he won a national championship with Akron during his college career. In addition to learning from Zips and U.S. U23 Coach Caleb Porter during his three seasons in Ohio, the standard of play and competition within the Akron squad also aided his development.
“Michigan was good, and then through Akron, where I got a lot of my experience from playing underneath Coach Porter and those guys, we were fortunate to win a national championship,” Sarkodie said. “Being surrounded by all of those quality players day-in and day-out, you learn a lot of things about your game. All you can do is improve in that environment.”
That improvement continued under the experienced eye of Kinnear and the Dynamo’s defense last summer. In addition to learning on the field, Sarkodie said he also learned a lot about the ups and downs of professional life as the Dynamo went on a roller-coaster ride that ended up with a trip to the MLS Cup Final.
“It’s crazy, you know?” he said. “Last season we were up and we were down, and one of the things I learned is that as a team, if you can stick in it and really fight for points and push yourself as a team, a lot of things can happen and you can really put yourself in a good position moving forward and for the playoffs. Fortunately for us we were there in the final, and it was a great overall experience.”
All things considered, the summer seems set to be a major one for the youngster.
“Yeah, definitely,” Sarkodie said. “I have to keep working hard, believe in the big man up top and just keep pushing. That’s all you can do, keep pushing.”