Mike Sorber, the midfielder from Missouri, has found a spot with the club that launched the careers of Mexican internationals Hugo Sanchez, Luis Garcia and Jorge Campos.
After three full games in the Mexican First Division, Mike Sorber hasn’t scored yet. But his teammates — and opponents — already appreciate his hard shot.
During his second game for UNAM — a 1-0 win over Atlas — Sorber unleashed a long-range shot that Argentine Felix Martin Ubaldi blocked.
“It was headed for goal but it hit him good,” Sorber said. “He went down and couldn’t get up. The stretcher came out and we didn’t see any more of him. My teammates told me he was their best player.
“Our coach [Ricardo Ferreti] is known to have an incredibly hard shot. Now everybody asks, `Who shoots harder, you or the coach? You’ll have to have a contest.'”
Sorber debuted for Pumas — the team linked to Mexico City’s Universidad Autonoma de Mexico — on Jan. 18 in a 2-0 loss to Leon. In that game, he faced off against Marcelo Balboa, who like Sorber played in every U.S. game in the 1994 World Cup.
Sorber said, “We had 10 chances and didn’t score and they had two and scored on both.”
Balboa said, “I really didn’t count. The bottom line was we put the ball in the back of the net. We needed to win. We hadn’t won in nine weeks.”
While Balboa plays in the central defense, Sorber plays as a defensive central midfielder, as with the U.S.
“With the national team,” Sorber said, “we had two in the middle. With Pumas it’s just me, so I have to do all the work. It’s good. And in every other way the system is very similar to the national team.”
Sorber says he acts as a sweeper in front of the defensive line.
“I’m supposed to direct traffic out wide,” he said, “and intercept passes through the middle. When I get the ball, I’m supposed to change the point of attack, hit it left or right, or serve it through toward goal.”
After the loss to Leon, Pumas won the match against Atlas and then tied Tecos UAG, last year’s champion, 1-1 Jan. 27.
Sorber caught U.S. coach Bora Milutinovic’s eye while playing with St. Louis U. at the 1991 final four. Despite Sorber’s lack of international experience, Milutinovic took the hard-working midfielder under his wing and played him 36 times prior to the World Cup. He was one of the few young players who didn’t lose his spot when the foreign-based Americans returned for the World Cup.
His raking shot earned him the nickname “Lazer” from his U.S. teammates, but his solid defending in midfield and Milutinovic’s contacts with Pumas resulted in the move to the Mexican capital, where Pumas plays in the 1968 Olympic Stadium.
Milutinovic played for Pumas in the early 1970s before becoming the club’s coach and winning the 1981 league championship with a team that included Hugo Sanchez, Manuel Negrete and Ferreti.
“[Ferreti] played for Bora,” Sorber said. “Practices here are the same as Bora’s. The playing style is the same, and the way he talks is the same.”
So Sorber, who just started learning Spanish, has little trouble fitting in. With the exception of Mexican national team veterans Jorge Campos — the flamboyant sweeper keeper — and stopper Claudio Suarez, the team is young.
“At 23, I’m actually one of the older players,” Sorber said. “The young players look to me for guidance. That makes it interesting.”
Pumas has a reputation for relying on young players and nurturing some of Mexico’s most exceptional talents. Leo Cuellar — now coach at Cal State Los Angeles — started his career with Pumas and went on to captain Mexico in the 1978 World Cup.
Luis Garcia — now with Club America after a stint in Spain — was discovered by Milutinovic and played on the 1991 championship Pumas team coached by current Mexican national team coach Miguel Mejia Baron. Campos and Alberto Garcia-Aspe —
now with Necaxa — were on that team.
“It’s a very popular team,” Sorber says. “We have fans whereever we play … Life in Mexico City is great. It took me only two days to get used to the altitude. You can get everything here that you can get in the U.S. It’s like living in the U.S. except the language is different.”
And Sorber had no problem finding adequate housing: He lives in Milutinovic’s hacienda while the coach resides in California.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Mike Woitalla