Luiz Camargo opened his MLS account in a big way for the Houston Dynamo Saturday night.
With the Dynamo seeking a late equalizer to pull a result out of a match in which they dominated possession, Camargo latched onto a sublime Brian Ching pass and hit a sweetly-struck near-post blast to pull a 2-2 result out in the waning moments at Gillette Stadium against the New England Revolution.
GOAL: Camargo opens MLS account
“We were trying to tell him to get going forward because we brought on Mac [Kandji] and went to a more attacking formation,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com after the match. “I was just happy he got into the box and hopefully there’s more to come from him in that area.”
Camargo was certainly one of the less likely goal-getters on the Dynamo roster. The Brazilian is known as a facilitator in the Dynamo attack who uses his control and superior technical ability to unlock chances for his teammates rather than create for himself.
While he is tailor made for his role as a facilitator, his skill-set lends to goalscoring as well and it is something his teammates, especially Ching – who was encouraging his ‘mate to “Get forward and get in the box” during the final quarter-hour – have been pushing for.
“I felt like he wasn’t working as hard as he could to get on the ball so I was just yelling at him to get him some encouragement and you saw what happened,” the Dynamo captain told MLSsoccer.com by phone after the match. “I think he was just kinda waiting for the ball to come to him, so it was about him being proactive and asking for it and demanding it. I was just trying to encourage him and it worked out for us.”
The Brazilian’s first MLS tally paid immediate dividends with a well-earned road point, but it could have positive ramifications going forward if one of Houston’s best on-the-ball players gains the confidence to create shots for himself as well as his teammates.
“I’ve seen a big improvement lately and that’s good for him,” Camargo’s central midfield partner Adam Moffat told MLSsoccer.com after the match. “It’s good that he took his chance and finished. Hopefully he keeps that up with more goals going forward.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
