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By all accounts, Cyle Larin’s first year as a professional player in Major League Soccer has been a major success story.
The 20 year old Brampton, Ontario native has quickly established himself as a key starter for his club Orlando City SC and he is already the consensus pick for the 2015 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year award, even considering the fact that there is still a decent chunk of the season left to play.
Add to that the fact that Larin has also established himself as a core piece for the Canadian Men’s National Team, as well as the fact that he is on track to break the record for goals scored by a rookie in Major League Soccer, and it is clear that 2015 has already been a year of personal breakthrough for the prodigiously talented youngster.
However, the summer months have also presented Larin with their own challenges and turbulence as he has looked to make his way at the highest levels of club and International soccer. In addition to being part of a Canadian National Team side that struggled this summer at the 2015 Gold Cup, the 6 foot 2 striker has seen his club hit a major rough patch in their schedule that has recently been punctuated by blowout losses to Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders.
“I’ve been having a great season but it is hard as we are not doing well as a team right now,” Larin told RedNation. “It would be better if we were doing well as a team right now. I’m a team guy first, so if my team is not doing well, then I’m not happy.”
Even with Orlando’s recent struggles, looking at the season as a whole, the 1st overall pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft is nonetheless able to appreciate all of the positives that have come with his first season as a professional coinciding with Orlando City’s first campaign in Major League Soccer as an expansion team.
“I’m happy to be (with Orlando), to play with this team and to play with a player like Kaka,” Larin explained. “Kaka a really great guy and he is a great player. I’ve learned a lot from him and it is just unfortunate that we are in a bad stretch (as a team) right now. Hopefully, we can pick things up in the next few games and do well as an expansion team.”
In addition to his baptism of fire at the Major League Soccer level, Larin has already experienced the ups and downs that often come with competing for Canada at the International level in the CONCACAF region.
Canada went into the 2015 Gold Cup fresh off a dominating performance against Dominica in World Cup qualifying and on an unbeaten run against CONCACAF opposition under Head Coach Benito Floro. However, Canada were ultimately eliminated from the tournament at the Group Stage and failed to score in three matches.
As a young and still developing player, Larin was quick to admit that while the results Canada achieved at the Gold Cup were less than ideal, the tournament was nonetheless a very valuable learning experience for the rising Canadian star.
“It was a great experience for me to play against top teams like Jamaica and Costa Rica,” Larin said. “It is a different level and you have to be ready for each game because you do only get one try at it and then you have to wait a couple of years for the next Gold Cup. I think the next time I go to the Gold Cup, I have to make sure that I get the job done and finish my chances.”
“Having been with Canada with the U20s for World Cup qualifying and with Canada at the Gold Cup, I think I really know what to expect now,” Larin added. “Before those tournaments, I didn’t have the experience (in CONCACAF) but I still tried my best. I think in the next games against Belize we will do well.”
Having made the jump this year from the college level to the professional level and senior men’s International level, the number of games and travel that Larin has endured have made for a time in which he has barely had a chance to catch his breath. That said, the Sigma FC Academy product was quick to state that he still has plenty left in the tank and that he is solely focused on achieving success with both his club and national team sides.
“Physically and mentally I’m fine,” Larin said. “I’m just preparing my body for the next game and staying focused on making sure that I go into each game with the right mentality, so that we go out there and work hard and do our job.”
As one of the most talented young players in the Canadian National Team player pool, Larin has been anointed by many people as the savior for a Canadian National Team that has historically struggled to score goals. Others, such as former Canadian National Team Captain Jason de Vos, have characterized such pronouncements as grossly unfair pressure for a player who is only 20 year old and in his first season as a professional.
As for Larin himself, he is smartly ignoring that dialogue altogether and focusing purely on the work he is putting in at training sessions with both Orlando City and the Canadian Men’s National Team.
“My focus is to work hard and to keep doing what I have been doing,” Larin stated. “I just leave that alone and let people talk and I’m just going to work hard. I think we will do well in the next round of World Cup qualifying (against Belize) and hopefully we can do well in the Group Stage and move on to the Hex stage.”
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