CHESTER, Pa. – Over the past few weeks, Fernando Aristeguieta has been shuttling between France, Venezuela, Florida and Philadelphia as he’s been trying to prepare for the next chapter of his life in Major League Soccer.
But when the Venezuelan international stepped onto the field at PPL Park for his Philadelphia Union debut Saturday, those chaotic moments suddenly morphed into a familiar and comfortable feeling.
“I felt like it was close to what I had in Venezuela, all the time people singing and getting behind the team,” Aristeguieta said after the Union’s season-opening scoreless draw with the Colorado Rapids. “That’s what you expect from your fans and I’m happy with it.”
The next step for Philly’s new Designated Player is gelling with his teammates, a process he vows will happen over time. Aristeguieta, after all, only had a handful of practices with his new team after being acquired on loan from France’s FC Nantes on Feb. 20 and spending most of last week obtaining his P-1 visa in Venezuela.
Still, he showed plenty of promise in his MLS debut, helping the Union create the majority of the game’s scoring chances and even delighting the Sons of Ben by mixing it up a bit with Colorado’s big center backs.
“I’ve heard that MLS is physical and has a lot of contact, and I’ve got to get used to it,” Aristeguieta said. “My way to play is sometimes to talk a lot with defenders. And I got hit a lot at the beginning of the game. But it’s about football and everything stays on the field.”
Union head coach Jim Curtin said that Aristeguieta put in a “really hard-working shift” but that he wasn’t always clean with the ball. Curtin figures that will change with a little more time on the practice field, and the Venezuelan striker agrees.
“It will come,” Aristeguieta said. “[My teammates are] great players and they’re the kind of players I want behind me because they play the football that works for me. I like to stay in the box and they’re good at getting the ball in the box, and for me that’s awesome.”
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Center back Steven Vitoria, the other one of the Union’s big acquisitions that came over on loan from Europe, had a similar outlook following Saturday’s frustrating draw.
Vitoria, who was acquired on loan from Portugal’s Benfica on Feb. 9, is confident his new team will enjoy a good season if they continue to play as they did Saturday.
“We’re not at all happy with the draw,” Vitoria said. “But keeping a clean sheet at home is important. We spent all 90 minutes closer to their end than ours, and that’s a positive fact. We’ll win more games than we lose with this attitude.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
