Carlos Rivas always knew he was going to play soccer professionally. From the age of six, he has been involved with some of Colombia’s biggest teams and now, with Orlando City SC, he is aiming to show what he can do on an even bigger stage.
Only 21, Rivas signed with Orlando this winter from Colombian club Deportivo Cali. The highly-touted youngster got off to an up-and-down start with the Lions, hampered by several niggling injuries and missing out on vital training time with his new teammates after needing to return home to resolve various visa issues.
Despite Rivas’ middling start to the season, Orlando head coach Adrian Heath remains convinced that the speedy left winger – who hasn’t started since March 13 – will be a major threat once he’s fully integrated into the team’s fluid passing game. He has been a substitute in the Lions' last five games, and could see more action on Wednesday night when they face D.C. United (8 pm ET, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes).
Starting with Handley FC when he was six, and progressing through América de Cali, Once Caldas and then Deportivo Cali – the 2014 Colombian SuperLiga champions – Rivas has already enjoyed a rich variety of soccer experiences, and the game seems firmly in his blood.
“My family was very much a soccer family,” he said through a translator. “My mom and dad both played a lot and I have two sisters who also play soccer now. It was a natural choice for me.
“It wasn’t just a family thing, though. There was never any pressure on me to go into a soccer career – it was just my ambition.”
Rivas played his first game as a pro at just 16, when he debuted with Once Caldas. He quickly caught the eye of high-powered Deportivo Cali, signing with the club at 19. He starred for the eight-time Colombian champions, attracting several suitors after scoring 12 goals in 29 appearances for Cali in 2014.
“I was very focused on doing well in Colombia,” he said. “But at the same time, it is hard to be known as a great player in Colombia. I knew that doing well could take me somewhere else – I just didn’t know where that would be.”
The speedy youngster had been scouted by several European clubs before Orlando joined the hunt last December, and the Lions beat everyone to the punch when they signed both Rivas and fellow Deportivo Cali youngster Cristian Higuita in January.
The double signing looked as if Heath had cannily snapped up the duo as a joint package, but Rivas said that wasn’t necessarily the case.
“I didn’t know that Cristian would also make the trip and play here!” Rivas said. “But my decision to come here has definitely been helped by that. Cristian and I help each other and support each other on a daily basis and I know that is only going to develop more and more through the season.
“Now I am also getting more confident, both individually and with the players as a group as well.”
The left winger has so far shown flashes of promise without demonstrating the kind of game-breaking talent he exhibited with Deportivo Cali, but he insists his breakout game is not far away.
“I have never had to deal with injuries before, but I feel I am increasingly getting better now,” he said. “Now I can say I am feeling really good so I feel I can finally show what I can do.
“When I heard that Orlando was playing their first season in MLS and that this was a big project and they were bringing in big players like Kaká, I knew it would be a great opportunity for me. Now I just need to take it.”
Simon Veness covers Orlando City for MLSsoccer.com.
