Brandon Vazquez is leading Major League Soccer's goal scoring table.
The Mexican-American currently tops the American soccer league with the most goals as player for FC Cincinnati, currently in a three-way tie with a quantity of 5 goals.
The 23-year-old is off to an impressive start in his sixth season as a professional soccer player, in a year where he is seeking to mark an important step in his professional career.
Vazquez was born here in Chula Vista, and eventually joined Club Tijuana in 2013 where he played professionally south of the border in the Mexican league(LigaMX). His days of playing for the Xolos wasn't always easy for Vazquez, who says that there were days where he would wake up in his hometown as early as 5am for training, and eventually headed to the border where he would then take an Uber to Tijuana's training grounds.
“Some days I’d wait in line for five minutes and other days it was three hours,” Vazquez told USSoccer.com. “I learned about patience in those lines for sure. But mostly what I took from it was the passion I had for the game. The passion to be at training on time and learn what was to be learned.”
When Vazquez arrived to Major League Soccer years later, it didn't take too long for him to unfortunately face a number of injuries, including an MCL tear while playing for Atlanta.
Still, however, Vazquez knew his potential could take his football to new heights.
In an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Vazquez shared that he feels like people have yet to witness his full-potential on a football pitch, as he believes that he is only getting started.
“I feel like a lot of people didn’t know my potential in that way,” Vazquez shared with the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I saw a lot of negative stuff online, so I did know that a lot of people weren’t having that trust in me but I’ve always known that nobody sees what you’re doing behind the scenes… My only controlling factor is how I train, how I play, how I take care of myself and recover and rest. That’s all stuff that I can control.”
The Chula Vista says that he will continue to put in the work for his individual progress, team contribution and for the city of Cincinnati.
“I’m going to keep working hard and keep scoring goals and do the best I can to get wins for this team and for this city,” Vazquez said. “Since I’ve been younger, I’ve seen that only extra work gets you to a better place. I feel like all the extra work I do, I’ve been doing it for years and years now. I’ve just been patient, waiting and waiting.”
FC Cincinnati manager Pat Noonan is a firm believer in the Chula Vista native, having full confidence in not only the current state of the player, but the upside potential that is still evolving within Vazquez.
“His upside, his potential is massive,” Pat Noonan said recently about Vazquez. “You can see that with his last two performances. Not just with the goals, but his ability to hold the ball, his ability to work defensively for our team. He does a lot of little things to help the group have success. In the end, as a striker, you have to finish plays off. And he’s doing that right now, so his overall performances for the group are what [are] helping us to have success and win games… He’s got the right mentality, though. He doesn’t think too much of himself after he has a successful day or a successful game.”
