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When Manny Aparicio was announced as the eighth homegrown player in club history to sign for the Toronto FC first team back on August 8th, he didn’t have a lot of time to savor his first few days as a professional football player.
On the same day that TFC announced his signing, Aparicio was promptly called up by Canada’s U-18 National team and left Toronto to compete in the 2013 COTIF U-20 Tournament in l’Alcúdia, Spain.
With that tournament now concluded, the 17 year old Aparicio is now back with his club and adjusting to life at the professional level.
“It’s been a good week,” Aparicio told RedNation Online. “These have been my first training sessions since I got back. It’s nice to be back and feeling the burn again after a few days off.”
“It went very well (with the Canada U-18 team),” Aparicio added. “We ended up making it to the semifinals, where we played against Spain and lost. It was a great experience. We played great teams like Spain, Argentina and Mexico.”
Even with TFC Head Coach Ryan Nelsen likely to bring the 17 year old midfielder along slowly, Aparicio is hopeful that he will be able earn some minutes during the Toronto’s remaining matches in 2013, with his eventual home debut in particular in the back of his mind.
“Ryan hasn’t really said much, but hopefully I will slowly get some minutes and maybe one day start for the team,” Aparicio said. “It would be awesome (to make my professional debut at BMO Field). I think that is my goal. To make my debut in front of all of my friends and family and the Toronto fans. That would be great.”
Video: Toronto FC TV
Asked to describe himself as a player, Aparicio spoke of himself as a particularly offensive-minded player.
“I like to play as a central mid or as a central attacking midfielder,” Aparicio said. “Usually, if I am playing as a central mid, I am more of an offensive player. So I go at defenders, send through balls and will score some goals. That’s my style.”
As a Canadian of Argentinian descent, the TFC Academy graduate believes he has fit in well with the other young Spanish speaking players on Toronto who play a Latin style of football.
“It’s been good actually,” Aparicio added. “We are able to communicate on the field and we know how we all like to play. We play the game the same way, so we all get along and play well together.”
While he has only officially been a professional player for a few weeks now, the young midfielder is not completely new to Toronto’s senior squad given that he has played in MLS Reserve League matches and trained with the professional team prior to his signing.
According to Aparicio, he benefited from that early professional exposure both technically and with respect to his own level of confidence as a young player.
“I think it really helped me because I was able to see that I could make it and that I could be up there,” Aparicio said. “In one of the reserve games I had to play with Alvaro Rey and it was a great experience to play with him. He plays the Spanish way, so that was great.”
Aparicio will now follow in the footsteps of other former TFC Academy players such as Jonathan Osorio, Doneil Henry and Ashtone Morgan as he seeks to establish himself as a regular at the senior level.
“Seeing those guys succeed makes you see that it is possible and that the first team is actually looking at the academy and looking to sign players,” Aparicio stated. “It really gives you an extra push.”
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