It didn’t matter that Philadelphia Union striker Fernando Aristeguieta was playing his first game in nearly two months and was completely exhausted after a grueling shift at the end of Tuesday’s US Open Cup quarterfinal game against the New York Red Bulls.
When it came time for the shootout, the Designated Player striker wanted the ball at his feet with the game on the line.
“It’s something that you feel,” Aristeguieta told reporters after the game. “Usually I take the first one to get out of it, but this time I went to tell [head coach Jim Curtin] that I wanted the fifth one.”
His confidence turned out to be warranted.
After the Union took a 3-2 lead into the final round of the shootout, Aristeguieta left no doubt about the fifth PK, drilling it into the top left corner of the net and setting off a huge Philly celebration at Red Bull Arena.
“Normally, when you’re gong to take a PK, you already have decided [which way to shoot], but this time, I swear, I changed it like eight times – I’m going to go right, no I’m going left, no I’m going to the right,” he said. “In the end, I picked the left because it’s where I felt safer. And when the ball is in, the first thing in my mind is going to [goalkeeper] John McCarthy. He’s the real hero.”
McCarthy indeed had a game to remember, making nine saves through regulation and extra time before denying the Red Bulls on two of their first four PK attempts. But with the Union down to 10 men for most of the game following a 40th-minute red card to Conor Casey, many players on the field also came through with gutsy performances – Aristeguieta included.
With Casey ejected and C.J. Sapong suspended, the Venezuelan was the only true striker left and was called upon at the end of regulation to try to ice a 1-0 Philly lead by holding the ball up and igniting counterattacks.
But after the Red Bulls scored a stoppage-time equalizer, Aristeguieta ended up playing 30 extra minutes, doing a ton of running as essentially the only Union player that wasn’t parking the bus on defense.
- Get more Philly news at PhiladelphiaUnion.com
“It was very tough for me because I got too tired,” said Aristeguieta, who had been out since June 3 with an ankle injury. “I ran as much as possible, but I ran out of gas like the last 10 minutes because I was dead. I was trying to do my best. In my head, I was trying to keep the ball as long as possible and give the team a little break.”
In the end, his hold-up play helped the Union survive the extra-time onslaught from the Red Bulls. Even better was the confidence he had to take the game-deciding PK after that.
“He was gassed and exhausted,” Curtin said. “But he had enough legs to step up and be a man and take the fifth spot. That’s not an easy one. It comes from within you, the guys who step up in those big moments and come through. To his credit, he wanted the fifth kick, and he stepped up and nailed it.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
