Panthers represent Puerto Rican national team

Alejandro Solana/Staff Writer

It has been a busy offseason for the FIU Men’s soccer team and head coach Scott Calabrese. After earning the most victories the team has won in 11 years and being crowned Conference USA champions, head coach Scott Calabrese and FIU saw three of its players from this past season join the Puerto Rico national team and add some new, young talent.

In a friendly match that took place on May 22, the United States national team geared up to play the Puerto Rican national team in preparation for the Copa America Centenario, which is currently ongoing.

Three Panthers represented their home nation in the friendly and one even scored a goal in the game. Senior forward Luis Betancur netted a beauty in front of his home crowd at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

Along with Betancur, current Panther Darren Rios and former FIU defender Patrick Lopez, also took the pitch in the first ever friendly between the United States and Puerto Rico.  

Lopez, the walk-on athlete who scored the game-winning goal in the C-USA championship game, was among the starting lineup, alongside Betancur.

“It was a funny feeling at first playing the United States, but once the game started, I put those emotions aside and gave Puerto Rico everything I had,” Lopez said.

“Looking back to when I first walked on at FIU, if I would have told myself that I would be scoring the championship winning goal for my FIU family and now representing my national team, I probably wouldn’t have believed myself,” Lopez said. “It is a dream come true and I am thankful everyday, especially for all those who were apart of it.”

The final result of the friendly ended with a 3-1 victory for the United States.

National team caps, however,  isn’t the only good news coming from the FIU men’s soccer team this offseason. Four new players have signed on the dotted line and agreed to join Calabrese’s squad during the spring signing period.

The FIU program announced on June 10, that midfielder Alessandro Campoy (Miami, Florida), defensive midfielder Esteban Calvo (San José, Costa Rica), defender Adam Hassan (Davie, Florida) and defender Aron Heiddal (Gardabaer, Iceland) will all be wearing blue and gold next season, in hopes of helping FIU return to the NCAA championships.

Image from Dawn Huczek via Flickr https://goo.gl/Q0bWG3