Colorado Rapids defender Steve Herdsman and MetroStars forward Rodrigo Faria have a lot in common. They both had abandoned hopes of playing pro soccer after stints abroad. They both went in the second round of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft after brief small-college careers. And theyÆre both now playing significant roles in their first year of MLS play.

Faria is grateful for his good luck

Throughout his life, Rodrigo Faria always has been able to turn to his father, Enrico, for guidance. Dad supported RodrigoÆs pursuits in soccer, yet reminded him of the other important things in life.

Heeding his fatherÆs wisdom led Faria to leave behind his home in soccer-frenzied Brazil to concentrate on an education in the United States. For the first time, Faria diverted his attention from his quest for professional soccer. Instead, it found him.

Faria grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and latched onto the youth program of Flamengo, a local professional club where he developed into a gangly, stubborn forward. But Flamengo released him at age 16. Seeing how the rejection devastated Rodrigo, his father helped him start anew with Vasco da Gama, another powerhouse Rio club, but it too, turned him aside after a year.

ôIn Brazil, there is so much politics and so many kids trying to make it,ö Faria said. ôSo the competition was too hard. In Brazil, if you donÆt make it [by the time] youÆre 17, thatÆs it. ItÆs not like [the United States], where you can go to college and then go with a team. In Brazil, you grow up inside the club. I was more frustrated with Flamengo than Vasco, because thatÆs where I spent all my time ù for nothing.ö

This time, when his father told him to focus on other ways of being successful, Rodrigo listened. A friend, Ricardo Coelho, an assistant coach at Concordia College, told Faria he could study at the private, Lutheran school of about 630 students outside of New York.

The chance to immerse himself in English would be invaluable, ôso that I could come back to Brazil and get a nice job in marketing,ö Faria says.

Soccer was placed on the back burner, but not abandoned.

Faria scored 22 goals and added 10 assists for Concordia in 1999 and was named the top newcomer in Division IIÆs New York Collegiate Athletic Conference.

That, plus a four-goal performance against a Brazilian team in the Copa Latina tournament, caused one scout to recommend he try out for the MetroStars reserve team.

Faria not only made the squad, but led it with 17 goals in New JerseyÆs amateur Champions League.

ôWe never saw him at the Copa Latina,ö MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano says. ôBut he came into our radar at those tryouts.ö

Realizing that Faria could count as a transitional international under MLS rules, Zambrano entered him in the SuperDraft. The MetroStars used their first pick, 13th overall, on Faria.

Four days later, Faria flew to Portugal with the MetroStars for preseason training. But just as his professional dream burgeoned, terrible news arrived: Enrico had cancer.

Faria immediately returned home. While veterans and hopefuls battled in Portugal for one of 18 roster spots, Faria stood by his family. Enrico underwent successful surgery for prostate cancer and almost three weeks passed before Faria rejoined the MetroStars.

ôHe barely, barely made the team,ö Zambrano says. ôI hadnÆt seen as much as I wanted of him, but we had gone through too much with him to give up. ItÆs kind of an unusual path, but he is very humble. He knows that heÆs had a little bit of luck and that we took a chance on him. He is grateful for everything that is coming his way, and I think that makes him even more malleable as a player.ö

Against D.C. United May 5, Faria scored his first professional goal during the MetroStarsÆ rally to a 3-2 victory. At the final whistle, Faria raced back to the locker room. When his teammates ambled in, they found him on the pay phone, gleefully recounting every detail to his father.

Herdsman is still in disbelief

Steve Herdsman has reason to be star-struck.

Six months ago, he was a soccer nobody, a sweeper at a small Christian college who spent summers in the PDL and was about to walk away from the game, as heÆd done twice before.

ThatÆs before this ôwhirlwind of excitementö took over the 25-year-old FloridianÆs life. The surprise selection, at No. 17, in MLSÆs SuperDraft, Herdsman is getting substantial playing time with the Colorado Rapids. HeÆs been a fixture in the RapidsÆ lineup, starting their first dozen games ù tops among rookies ù at sweeper and as a defensive midfielder.

Coach Tim Hankinson, awed by HerdsmanÆs speed and defensive instincts during the combine that preceded FebruaryÆs draft, sees enormous potential in need of heavy seasoning.

ôIf we were a stronger club,ö says Hankinson, whose team is last in the West, ômaybe heÆs a player fighting for his time off the bench. But heÆs in the frying pan, and thatÆs great for him. At 25, he may be a rookie in this league, but heÆs not a young player anymore. He needs to be in the action right now so he can grow as quickly as he can.ö

ItÆll take some time. The jump from the Premier Development League ù the fourth-tier in the American game ù to MLS is huge, and Herdsman has much to learn.

ôHeÆs green ù he really is,ö says Robin Fraser, the RapidsÆ No. 1 sweeper and HerdsmanÆs roommate on the road. ôHeÆs got a bright future, but heÆs really green. … Physically, he has everything he needs.ö

Herdsman, born in Jamaica and raised in Florida, where he moved at age 4, took a sputtering, meandering path to pro soccer. He didnÆt start playing until he was a high school sophomore, quit once, then ended up in Germany for two years, playing for Fifth Division club Spandauer BC and then Hertha BerlinÆs amateurs after impressing during an American teamÆs tour.

He turned down a contract from Hannover 96 because ôI wasnÆt ready for the league,ö returned home and quit again. Then he was off to NAIA-affiliated Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich.

He met his wife, Betsy, there, but managed just one season of soccer in nearly three years at the school.

Herdsman also spent two seasons with the PDLÆs West Michigan Edge, and thatÆs how he came to the RapidsÆ attention. He participated in the MLS combine as part of a PDL all-star team, deciding at the last minute to attend ù his baby daughter had undergone surgery ù and quickly making his presence felt.

ôHe shut down a couple situations that broke through the defense,ö Hankinson says, ôas explosively and cleanly as you could ever ask from a player.ö

Hankinson says three MLS teams have inquired about Herdsman, whose future is as a sweeper. How far off is that future?

ôStephen will achieve his potential when he realizes what his potential is,ö Hankinson says. ôRight now heÆs in disbelief. HeÆs going up against Clint Mathis, Tab Ramos, guys heÆs looking at like stars. HeÆs not a star yet. He will be only when he starts to believe he should be the better man when he gets those matchups.ö

Herdsman recognizes this, but he canÆt help it. Six months ago, all this was inconceivable.

ôI go out and play against the L.A. Galaxy,ö he says, ôIÆm like, æThatÆs Cobi Jones!Æ I call my friends: æIÆm playing with Robin Fraser … Marcelo Balboa … Paul BravoÆ ù guys I thought IÆd only see on TV. Then we play Chicago, this guy [Hristo Stoitchkov] was [European] Footballer of the Year, and IÆm running beside him.

ôI never could have thought that was possible. When they started the league [in 1996], they had some [preseason] games [in Florida], and I went to see them. I thought, æMan, I could never play in this league.Æ But here I am. IÆm here playing a lot of minutes, starting. I didnÆt think that would happen.ö

by Soccer America editors Scott French and Will Kuhns