Scoring goals in a professional soccer environment is a good habit to get into, regardless of the opponent and the competition.
Given that, Brandon Vazquez's return to the scoresheet in FC Cincinnati's 3-1 scrimmage victory against the University of South Florida on Friday was an encouraging sign.
A goal against an NCAA Division I side won't count for much when FCC opens its 2022 Major League Soccer regular season Feb. 26 at Austin FC, but again, it's about the habit.
As far as Vazquez's MLS career is concerned, that habit started to stick in a way it hadn't previously during the latter stages of the 2021 season. He'd scored in the league and cup competitions previously, but never with the frequency he did late in 2021.
With increased minutes and opportunities, Vazquez became the first player in club history to score in three consecutive matches and ended up with more goals on the year (four) than higher-paid teammates Alvaro Barreal (three) and Allan Cruz (one).
Vazquez wasn't just scoring routine tap-ins, too, and while Cincinnati was well out of the playoff hunt when the bulk of the goals came, the scores were still plenty meaningful to a team looking to avoid a third consecutive last-place finish under a then-newly hired general manager.
"I'm hoping to carry that on over (from 2021) immediately. Obviously, toward the end of the season, after months of training nonstop for hours and hours, you're really sharp. I felt super sharp," Vazquez told the Enquirer during a mid-January interview. "So, I hope to start that way this preseason, and the more training we do, the sharper I'll get, so I'm hoping to have a full season like the way I finished off" last season.
So far, so good for Vazquez, who the club has made a point of highlighting for his work in front of goal during both during the USF game and in training sessions.
While many fans speculate about which exotic commodity could be the club's next incoming acquisition, Vazquez stands as an example of a possible in-house solution to team's woes.
While many will likely predict a trying 2022 for FC Cincinnati, a sustained effort from Vazquez that looks anything like the way he finished 2021 could alter the team's trajectory dramatically.
And Vazquez said he's confident he can regain the form he demonstrated in 2021, even after contracting COVID-19 in December.
The COVID run-in set him back about a month in the heart of the short offseason, he said, but he was fully recovered and fit for preseason with time to spare.
"Spent Christmas locked up. They told me not to do anything at all for two weeks," Vazquez said. "They sent me a return-to-play program and it was like first day, 10-minute jog. Twenty minute jog. Thirty minute jog, and when I did the 10-minute jog, I was winded. It took my two more weeks to start feeling somewhat fit again."
Vazquez reported to Cincinnati early – more than a week before he was required to show up for preseason.
He slogged through wintry conditions including sub-20F temperatures to help lay the groundwork for what many are hoping is a breakthrough season for the forward.
"There's been plenty of times the past couple years where I felt just as sharp in training and mentally, but I was just waiting for the opportunity," Vazquez said. "But this last run of games was definitely where I popped off on every chance I had, so I'm actually really happy that I was able to put everything that I did in training onto the field and show that I was really working my ass off all season."
Vazquez poised for breakout
The goals Vazquez poured in late in 2021 was just a snapshot of his season. The full picture was colored more prominently by being stuck on the bench and fighting for a legitimate chance in-game.
Months before he took flight with three goals in three games against Chicago Fire, Inter Miami and Nashville SC in October, Vazquez said he felt sharp. However, all that sense was good for under Stam was 20 consecutive substitute appearances before earning his first start of the campaign, which stands as a quirky MLS record.
"I was just patiently waiting and waiting for the opportunity," Vazquez said. "It's tough when you come in and play five minutes, 10 minutes maybe. Sometimes you don't get an opportunity in that (amount of) time, or one opportunity... When you play such little minutes, it's really hard to show. But in training, for sure, even before I had an opportunity to start a game, I was feeling on fire. Training – I felt like I was scoring everything."
The wait paid off, and Vazquez revealed his full range of skills in the process.
He scored with power and speed, skill and finesse, and simply by having the opportunities that lacked under Stam.
"I feel like a lot people didn't know my potential in that way," Vazquez said. "I had some opportunities earlier in the season that I missed that could have been game-winners. That hurt me because in training I would score those eight-out-of-10, nine-out-of-10 times. And then the game came, and it wasn't coming for me hitting the back of the net.
"I saw a lot of negative stuff online, so I did know that a lot of people weren't having that trust in me but I've always known that nobody sees what you're doing behind the scenes... My only controlling factor is how I train, how I play, how I take care of myself and recover and rest. That's all stuff that I can control. If I'm not playing, that's out of my control. It could get in my head a lot and it was frustrating but all I could do was work and work and work and day after day show up. For sure, I think, like I said, it come to fruition last season and I just hope it rolls over and just keeps going the same this season."
One way or another, things are shaping up for Vazquez to have plentiful opportunities again. His strong finish last season seemingly put him in the running to play in any system featuring two-striker pairing.
Additionally, FC Cincinnati is still awaiting the arrival of its top striker, Brenner Souza da Silva, who as of Tuesday had missed each training session through parts of three weeks this preseason.
Brenner is awaiting receipt of a green card, which is worth waiting for. But the longer that wait drags on, the likelihood of an increased workload for Vazquez rises.
The conversation around most clubs during preseason centers on dissection of personnel. Who's in? Who's out? And maybe more than anything else, what key pieces are missing?
Right now, FC Cincinnati's widely viewed to be lacking in the midfield. The club has essentially confirmed that state of affairs by acknowledging incoming moves are likely at some point in the future.
Brenner's absence is also a foremost concern, but Vazquez remains. He's not widely discussed but he's poised for a breakout.
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