Life In The Pros

By Mike Woitalla
Executive Editor, Soccer America

Top picks in the MLS SuperDraft hail from diverse backgrounds.

John Cunliffe (Chivas USA)
FROM MAN U FAN TO BECKHAM FOE

John Cunliffe's hopes of becoming a pro began when he played for the youth teams of Blackburn and Manchester United, but most crucial to what would turn him into Chivas USA's first pick was a trip to the President's Tournament in Phoenix in 2003 with his English club, Atletico Preston.

There he impressed Coach Jeremy Gunn of Fort Lewis College in Colorado. Cunliffe, delighted that he could get a college education while playing ball, scored 75 goals and made 62 assists in four years.

Plus, he tore it up in the USL Premier Development League in 2006, leading the league in scoring while playing with Boulder Rapids Reserve.

His sweet left foot reminded Chivas USA coach Preki of himself and he was relieved that Cunliffe was still available when its turn came at No. 7.

Raised in Bolton, England, Cunliffe started playing soccer with his brother and friends. When, he was 10, a local club team held tryouts at the school field across the street from his house.

''I was already playing around, so I joined in,'' he says. ''I think it was good that I didn't join a team until age 10, because young kids should just play. I scored a bunch of goals and the coach made me a forward.''

Cunliffe is pleased with his new employers, figuring they'll play the technical type of soccer he likes. And they'll have derbies against the team of Beckham.

''That's nice,'' he says. ''I was fan of David Beckham — when he was at Manchester United.''

Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire)
A LONG ROAD TO MLS

Bakary Soumare — long before he grew so tall people keep asking him if he played basketball — played his soccer in St. Denis, a Paris suburb five miles north of the capital's center, made world famous as site of the Stade de France, the 1998 World Cup final venue.

It's a neighborhood where young African immigrants play daily soccer and dream of becoming famous, like so many members of Les Bleus whose families hail from former French colonies in Africa.

Soumare was born in the Mali capital of Bamako. His family moved to France was he was 3. Like many African immigrants, Soumare's parents moved back to their homeland when they retired. Bakary was 15 and visited the USA, where his sister had moved to play basketball, first at Dixie State College in Utah, then at Cal Berkeley.

''At first, I wasn't coming to live, just see how it is,'' says Soumare. ''But it worked out. I found a foster family.''

Playing soccer — he hooked up with Red Storm Arrows, who were coached by St. John's coach Dave Masur and won the 2002 Super Y-League title — helped him make friends and adjust.

''It was very difficult at first,'' Soumare said. ''It's a different culture — from Paris to New York City. Then eight months after I arrived was Sept. 11. But eventually it began feeling like home.''

Soumare red-shirted in 2005 at the University of Virginia and started 20 games in 2006. He impressed at the MLS combine, and Chicago him the No. 2 pick.

Shortly before the draft he met his parents in Paris.

''I had to explain to them what a draft was,'' Soumare said minutes after getting selected, ''because they don't have that anywhere else. That took two hours. My dad is watching the broadcast online. I'm sure he's sitting at the computer all excited right now. ''

Abdus Ibrahim (FC Dallas)
ETHIOPIAN TAKES U.S. FAST TRACK

Abdus Ibrahim's family split up when he was a boy, his father and older brother, Ahamarik, leaving Ethiopia because of the civil war. They eventually landed in Minnesota in 1999 while Abdus stayed in Ethiopia with his mother with plans to join them in the future. Ahamarik told him of the booming youth soccer in the USA. ''I was really excited — the school is better, and I knew I'd be able to play on soccer teams,'' he says. ''In Africa, we just played pickup games.'' In 2003, after years without seeing his father or Ahamarik, Abdus, at age 11, and his mother arrived in Minnesota, where his father made a living as a driving teacher to fellow African immigrants. And Abdus went on a soccer fast track. He skipped two grades so he could play high school soccer, despite having to learn a new language. Already fluent in three languages, including Oromo and Somali, made learning a fourth easier. In January 2006, Abdus was selected to join the U.S. U-17 residency in Bradenton and later in the year got his U.S. passport. ''Bradenton was great,'' he says. ''I want to thank the national team coaches down there. That experience was what made it possible for me to become a pro.'' Besides hoping to represent his new country in the U-17 World Cup, Ibrahim will begin his pro career in Dallas, which picked him 14th in the draft.

Maurice Edu (Toronto FC)
THE TIMING WAS RIGHT

Maurice Edu honed the soccer skills that turned him into the No. 1 pick at the SuperDraft in Southern California, but he traces the roots of his passion for the sport to Nigeria, the homeland of his parents.

Born in San Bernardino, he started out in AYSO and played youth club ball for Celtic and the Pateadores before winning an NCAA title at Maryland in 2005. Only twice has he been to Nigeria — both times for funerals of relatives.

''We were a soccer family,'' says 20-year-old Maurice. ''Both my parents love soccer. It's what they grew up with in Nigeria. My older sisters played soccer. I played since I can remember and always dreamed of being a pro.''

His mother, Ufokiban, who goes by Molly, and his father, Maurice, knew each other in Nigeria, but when they came to the USA, she went to Brigham Young University and Maurice went to Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California, where Molly later joined him.

''In Nigeria, everybody plays,'' says Molly. ''Boys and girls, everyday.''

But the Edu family was also academic-minded. Molly teaches chemistry at Carter High School in Rialto, Calif., and Maurice Sr. taught high school math until he retired after suffering a stroke three years ago.

Maurice didn't have to take math classes at Maryland — he tested out with advancement placement, but was 25 credits short of his degree when, after his junior season, he began contemplating going pro. Long family discussions ensued.

''There was always a balance between sport and education for all our children,'' says Molly. ''We expect him to finish his degree. But we felt the timing was good for him to go into the draft.''

Maurice said, ''It was the hardest decision of my life. But it looks like it paid off.''

(This article originally appeared in the February 2007 issue of Soccer America Magazine.)