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How Atlanta United’s first #10 took the league by storm

By Atlanta United FC

January 31^st, 2019

There’s a common thread among the people who have followed Miguel Almirón during his two-season stretch with Atlanta United.

They can all remember the first time they saw him.

“His speed both on and off the ball is just electrifying,” says Atlanta United radio analyst Jason Longshore. “He immediately jumps out to you because of that.”

“I couldn’t believe he was in MLS to be honest with you,” adds Jason’s play-by-play counterpart, Mike Conti. “He just seemed like someone who, from the very beginning, was destined to play at the very highest of levels.”

There are countless stories of Almirón’s impact on the city and the first chapter of Atlanta United, one for every fan who posed next to his trademark smile for a quick photo. But there are some who tell his story every week –– Kevin Egan, Dan Gargan and Jillian Sakovits of Fox Sports South, and Mike Conti and Jason Longshore on 92.9 The Game.

We asked them to tell his story one last time.

“The first time I really took notice and said ‘wow’ was the Minnesota game,” Kevin Egan says. “Not only is he scoring goals, but just his smile in the snow. Bitter cold day, record amounts of snow, and there’s Miguel Almirón from Paraguay with a big smile on his face.”

“We knew he was a good two-way player, but we had no idea how dominant he’d be in the attack,” Longshore adds. “I think it was the half volley goal in Minnesota where I thought, “now we’ve got something that’s really unexpected.”

Miguel scored two goals and assisted another – to Josef Martinez – in that match, the first win in club history. It was clear from the beginning he was a game-changer with the ball at his feet.

“The pace at which he attacked the defense with the ball, I hadn’t really seen that in a ton of players in this league,” Dan Gargan says. “The other thing that always stood out for me with Miguel was, for a #10, his willingness to track back and do defensive dirty work that attacking players of his caliber don’t usually do.”

“My first impression of Miggy was that he’s never absent from play,” adds Jillian Sakovits. “One second you’d see him on one end of the field breaking up a play helping out the defense, moments later he’d be feeding a ball up to Josef. He was just all over the place. And second was his speed. You couldn’t help but just be so blown away by his speed, especially on the ball.”

His speed. It’s what jumps off the field or the tv screen –– he’s a rare player who seems to be running faster with the ball. His breathtaking runs through midfield became a defining memory of the club’s first championship team.

“To see times where he would take off, literally throwing his head back, and you could see he was hitting another gear that he shouldn’t have,” Longshore says. “For an Atlanta native, I can only compare that to maybe Michael Vick, where you could hear the buzz in the crowd when he took off running. It was the same feeling you had when Miguel had the ball at his feet in the open field.”

“There aren’t that many players you’ll remember in your life who were just absolutely a joy to watch,” Egan says. “Every time they get on the ball, there’s an electricity added to the stadium. And with every step Miguel Almirón would take on the ball, another few thousand people at Mercedes-Benz Stadium would stand up and take a breath because something magic was about to happen.”

It became clear in his debut season that Miguel was one of the most special players to ever play in this league, earning the MLS Newcomer of the Year Award and a spot in the MLS Best XI. And as his influence grew on the field, so did his connection to an Atlanta fanbase that was falling head over heels for soccer –– and their #10.

“Josef scowls and stares, but Miggy had that boyish grin and there’s something so relatable about that,” says Sakovits. “I think our fans just really connected with and loved that. He made you comfortable, and he was relatable because of it.”

“How many times did we see a photo of Miguel and a supporter on social media, with that smile like he was a kid on Christmas morning,” laughs Conti. “He didn’t speak English and nobody cared. People who didn’t speak a word of Spanish felt connected to Miguel.”

But it was more than just a smile. It was the desire on the field that ultimately adhered him to the Atlanta fans’ hearts.

“When you’re a brand new team and you bring in a star from another country, you just want to see that they’re as in love with the team and the city as you are. You want to feel that that player is invested. Miguel was totally in, all in from day one, and it was so clear.”

2017’s incredible ride ended on a sour note: an injury-dampened final stretch of the season for him personally and an early exit from the postseason for the club. But he and his teammates built on a stellar first year with a dominant second, taking their game to a new level.

“What I appreciated most as his maturation went along was his ownership of games,” Gargan says. “He was always an electric presence, you knew you’d get that no matter what. But as he realized how good he was and how good he could be, you can see with high-level players they choose times where they will take over games, and I really enjoyed watching him do that. His ability to be the best player on the field was always there. To elevate that to taking over and dominating games is something that stood out as time went on.”

And he did that, in part, by forming one of the most devastating attacking partnerships this league has ever seen with Josef Martinez. The yin to each other’s yang, Miguel added the happy-go-lucky smile to Josef’s icy stare – and the passes that so often led to Josef’s record-breaking goal-scoring.

“When you talk about the history books, it has to be right at the top for a two-year span,” says Mike Conti. “If you just look at their production, it would automatically go near the top. Then they won a championship on top of it. What I loved the most about them is how much they visibly enjoyed playing with each other. That Dragonball Z celebration they did sounds like such a little thing, but it was such a tangible piece of evidence of how much they enjoyed the game.”

“The two of them just had the utmost respect for each other, and the end of the day they were friends,” Sakovits says, “and the friendship they had was why they were so successful on the pitch. I think Miggy grounded Josef and Josef pushed Miggy.”

And on top of it all, he and his teammates delivered. You could see it on his face as the team paraded a championship trophy through downtown for the first time in decades in Atlanta. They did what they came to do: they united the city and they conquered the league. And the city got a great ambassador for the club.

“The night they won the Cup and a few days later at the parade, you could see how much he wanted to integrate the supporters into that celebration, because he knew how critical the Atlanta United supporters were to the team winning that Cup. To me that stands out the most.”

“He works so hard on the field, but he’s relatively soft-spoken and just incredibly nice,” said Sakovits. “That Miggy that you see from way up in the seats, smiling and setting up his teammates, is the same Miggy that we got face to face as well. And that says a lot –– it was all genuine.”

And now Almirón moves to the Premier League, the best example yet of Atlanta United’s philosophy of developing the best young talent in the world. He goes to England a representative for the club and MLS, and there are sure to be plenty of Atlanta United fans that will continue to follow him wherever he goes.

“If I spoke to him again I would just tell him good luck," Gargan says. He left his mark on Major League Soccer and did it in an admirable way. Taking on a role that’s not easy to fill in an expansion side and the scrutiny that comes along with it, and performing game in and game out and just delivering. I wasn’t with him in the locker room or the front office, but as a fan you couldn’t really ask for much more.”

“If I were to give him one word of advice, I would just say keep smiling,” Egan says. “It’s called the beautiful game for a reason. You’ve warmed the hearts of so many people and so many new soccer fans. Newcastle has a whole new fanbase in the South. We’ll miss you Miggy, but we’re immensely proud of you. And for the last time, you’re an absolute peach of a Paraguayan.”

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