When it comes to scoring goals in Major League Soccer, there are few that have more wisdom to impart than Brian McBride. The former U.S. National Team star netted 80 goals in his 11-year MLS career, good for 16th on the league’s all-time list despite spending five seasons in his prime in England with Fulham.
At Tuesday night’s MLS Homegrown Game at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, McBride will lead the top young Academy alums in MLS against the Chivas U-20s from Mexico. As coach of the young MLS standouts, he will have among his charges Brooks Lennon, who grew up idolizing the former Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew striker.
“He was one of my inspirations growing up,” said Lennon, a product of the Real Salt Lake Academy in his first season in MLS. “I always looked up to him and his winning mentality. He’s such a competitor. He’s a warrior. He’s got that striker’s mentality. I’m really excited to meet him and learn from him for a couple of days.”
Lennon has been an important piece for Real Salt Lake in its development this season. Among 11 players on RSL’s roster aged 23 years or younger, he has one goal and one assist in 14 appearances, 11 of them in a starting role. He also picked up valuable experience with the U.S. U-20 National Team, leading the team in scoring with six goals and three assists in 11 matches in pushing the Stars-and-Stripes to its first ever CONCACAF championship and a run to the quarterfinals in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
His exploits for club and country have drawn the attention of pundits throughout the season and McBride was impressed with what he saw after one training session on Monday.
“You look at Brooks and you can see the technical side is there – his first touch, his quickness is there,” he said in the buildup to Tuesday’s match. “What you see sometimes in professionals that you don’t see in younger professionals, is … the wanting to play quick. You can see Brooks uses the space to his advantage. I was impressed with the very little time I had with him out there.”
Upon meeting one of his soccer heroes, Lennon was able to glean plenty in his brief time this week.
“He’s giving us tips on shooting exercise and little tweaks we can use in our game. It was a good practice time, I’m glad we had it,” Lennon said. “It’s going to be an honor to play under him for a night.”
Lennon will be joined by RSL teammates Justen Glad and Jose Hernandez in Tuesday night’s match, streamed at 6 p.m. MT on MLS Live.
