Eighty-five seconds into his first Major League Soccer game, 51黑料 City SC defender Fallou Fall found himself chasing after a ball in his own end of the field and feeling pressure from a Nashville player with another player cutting off his angle to play the ball to goalkeeper Roman Burki. Fall had yet to touch the ball in the game, and this would be his first play of the ball for City SC in a real game.
Almost casually, without even turning his head, he backheeled the ball, kicking it upfield while facing downfield, to teammate Devin Padelford, who then progressed the ball upfield. The play brought a roar from the crowd at Energizer Park.
鈥淚t was something that made me chuckle,鈥 said City SC coach David Critchley, 鈥渂ecause it worked out. If it didn鈥檛 work out, I would have been a little bit more upset, probably. But it just shows a young, brave, confident young man.鈥
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鈥淚t鈥檚 just like, the good decision to take,鈥 Fall said. 鈥淭he striker was closing to my keeper, and that鈥檚 the only decision I have to take and I just take it. ... Sometimes if I have to do it, I will do it, without thinking.鈥
Did he notice the response? 鈥淵eah, yeah. I heard it,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his was a good energy.鈥
Fall should get his second chance at an MLS game on Saturday when City SC faces the Chicago Fire in Bridgeview, Illinois, at 7:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Soldier Field in downtown Chicago, but was moved to the Fire鈥檚 previous home because of a conflict with a Bears preseason game. City SC will be looking to win two games a row for just the second time this season and win its second road game while keeping its fainter-than-faint playoff hopes alive.
Fall made a strong debut in his first MLS game, and while it is clear he鈥檚 a youngster 鈥 he鈥檚 21 and only two regular first-team players are younger than he is 鈥 and will make some mistakes, his 90 minutes against Nashville and 40 minutes in the friendly with Aston Villa, show that he鈥檚 a player who can make an impact.
鈥淎s a left-footed center back,鈥 Critchley said, 鈥渨e know he鈥檚 going to bring some qualities on the field to us from a playing standpoint. His adjustment so far has been smooth. I鈥檓 really happy with what I鈥檝e seen so far. So now, being such a young lad, we鈥檝e got a young product on our hand.鈥
He did miss on some passes, which can be a liability for a center back with no one but the goalkeeper behind him usually, but Fall also make some slide tackles to win balls and didn鈥檛 hesitate to get physical, once taking the ball from Nashville star Hany Mukhtar and then shoving him to the ground, or screening a ball so it went over the end line but then shoving the Nashville player to the ground at the same time.
Fall said his play in Norway, another physical league, made that natural for him, and he likes that style anyway.
鈥淎s a defender,鈥 he said, 鈥渨e just have to defend it, to protect the goal and everything. And this was just like in the moment, I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 like about something learning or something. We are defenders, we have to defend.鈥
He said he actually learned more from the Aston Villa game 鈥 the level of play of a Premier League team will do that 鈥 and that, plus the work of teammates and coaches, has made his transition to America a smooth one.
鈥淚n the game, I see that I lose many balls and that thing happened to me,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 have to, I think, build that thing up, and I can be like one of the best defenders in the league, because I鈥檓 good in defending. If I have that thing extra, it will be amazing for me.鈥
Fall, who took his uniform number of 95 by adding the birthdates of himself, his wife and his best friend, plus his wedding day, may have a new partner for at least part of the game on Saturday. Henry Kessler is back and, after being on the roster but not playing last week, figures to see some action. City SC is the healthiest it has been all season, with only Cedric Teuchert and Michael Wentzel unavailable. Critchley has 23 field players to choose from for 18 spots.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got good numbers, which equals good competition,鈥 Critchley said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we want. So it鈥檚 been nice to have the problems of, how do we set up a game with more than 22 players? So these types of problems we haven鈥檛 had so far since I鈥檝e been here. So we鈥檙e healthy, we鈥檙e sharp. So it鈥檚 a really good environment to be in right now.鈥
One player who has seen his playing time drop to zero as the team has gotten healthy has been forward Xande Silva. He didn鈥檛 play against Minnesota or Astron Villa (when the team used 26 players) and he didn鈥檛 make the game-day roster against Nashville, with the team calling up Mykhi Joyner from City2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the training, as always, with all these players,鈥 Critchley said. 鈥淚f they come in and they train well and they perform in training, for me, that鈥檚 when they get their first opportunity. But not just Xande. I鈥檓 not saying this message against him, it鈥檚 against the entire team: No one鈥檚 bigger than the team. The team comes first. And if you don鈥檛 train to your best ability, there鈥檚 other players that will do that.鈥
51黑料 City SC interim coach David Critchley speaks after the team's win over Nashville SC. Video edited by Beth O'Malley
