The Real Life Santiago Munez
Me again, cramming in one more soccer post as the eye of March Madness passes through the week. There are very few feel-good sports stories that resist cynicism or saturation. George Mason was one, Jason McElwain was another, and now, there's the saga of Watford FC defender--and newly named U.S. National Team player--Jay DeMerit. (Santiago Munez, by the way, is the name of Kuno Becker's character in the Goal! movies, about the soccer rags-to-riches story of an ordinary guy who also happens to look like an Abercrombie model.)
I remember reading Grant Wahl's Sports Illustrated story back in October, in which a Watford teammate says DeMerit's "certainly good enough...to get into his national team," and thinking that was a bit of a stretch. Well, it's not. Of the 13 overseas players named to the national team, seven currently play in the Premiership. And the only reason it's seven and not six is because of DeMerit, who pretty much bootstrapped Watford into the Premiership. (Incidentally, former Seattle Sounder Brian Ching was also named to the national team.)
The quick version: DeMerit grew up in Green Bay, WI, played college ball at the University of Illinois-Chicago and spent some time with the Chicago Fire reserves, but MLS wasn't calling, so he went off to Europe with a buddy to look for any tryout he could find. (Highlights: surviving on 40 British pounds a week, playing on a ninth division team, as well as in pub league games with hungover fat guys, knocking on the door of the Sparta Rotterdam team manager.) Through a combination of elbow grease and great timing, DeMerit eventually landed a two-week trial with Watford, then playing in the English second division or whatever you call the league right below the Premiership. After impressing the coaches in a preseason game against a Spanish first division team, he earned a year-long contract. Then, in the playoffs with promotion on the line, he scored the game winner against Leeds United and suddenly he and Watford were playing in the English Premier League. The spoils of victory followed, notably a hefty multi-year contract. If that's not enough, DeMerit could potentially earn is first international cap in a couple of weeks. Here's a lengthy and illuminating interview with DeMerit, who comes off as likeable as you'd imagine.
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