Of Cuban father and American mother, Miguel Berry (Barcelona, 1997) lived in Spain until she was 8 years old. He played in the lower categories of San Cugat FC, where he spent “the best moments” of his life. His years in Catalonia, however, are already far behind. It has been almost three decades since he changed his residence to San Diego, California. And there, on the other side of the pond, he continued to train as a footballer until he won a contract in the MLS. After several years of success in college football, Berry was selected in the SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew, with which he signed his first professional contract in February 2020. He left on loan to San Diego Loyal, but Caleb Porter, coach of the ' Black and Gold 'recovered him to prevent the club from being left out of the' play-offs' for the MLS Cup. Berry has responded more than enough and his numbers attest to this: has scored four goals in his last six appearances.
As he recognized in AS, Miguel Berry reached professional football thanks to the training he received in Spain. “I arrived with a projection because I had learned a lot there. It was the time when Frank Rijkaard was directing FC Barcelona and my coach in San Cugat del Vallés was sympathetic to his philosophy. I learned to play by touch, to move, to look for spaces … But I came to the United States and I found absurd football. Until the age of 16 they only play for fun! ” The Spaniard is now one of the emerging talents of American soccer and one of the most positive aspects of Columbus, which was proclaimed MLS champion in 2020 but is living a bitter 2021 due to injuries. Some of those absences, such as the international Gyasi zardes, have been key to the appearance of Berry. “He is proving to be a great player. I love how hungry he is,” Porter said of the Spaniard, who has scored two consecutive rounds.
“I am willing to do what the team needs to win. Whether playing as a starter, coming off the bench or cleaning Gyasi (Zardes) shoes“, said Miguel Berry jokingly, who does not have the baggage of his attacking companions – Zardes has almost 100 goals in MLS and Wright-Phillips was the top scorer in the competition on two occasions – but he has already shown that he is ready to relieve them. So far, the Spaniard has been able to score four goals in 265 minutes, all of them when his team was behind on the scoreboard. With his double against Cincinnati, he also prevented the Columbus Crew from overcoming its worst losing streak in the league. MLS (6). The 'Black and Gold' are not going through their best moment of form, but next weekend they will face Inter Miami with the aim of returning to the 'play-offs' and face the last 10 days with optimism of the regular season.
They will do it with Miguel Berry as their best offensive asset. The Spanish, who also revolutionized the game against Orlando, has not had a red carpet until the elite. His time in college football in the United States was “very difficult” and being chosen by the Columbus Crew in the SuperDraft was, at least at first, a huge disappointment. “I already had an offer on the table. I had talked to the coach, visited his facilities … I thought my future was there and, suddenly, Columbus had my rights. I told them not to choose me, that I was not going to go. . I was crying, I called my representative 20 times in one morning. Everyone congratulated me and I thought: 'Nooo!' But everything changed when I spoke with them. Porter called me, told me what plans he had and that helped me understand that this is the best place for me “, he discovered in AS before admitting that his dream is to return to Spain. “A Third, Second or First. You never know, but I want to succeed in MLS and have the opportunity to live there again. Also to see Barça matches live. I follow them, but there is nothing like being at the Camp Nou and singing the anthem“, sentenced the new star of Columbus.