It’s not often that a forward takes this league by storm quite like Marcus Caldeira has, but what a thing to witness when they do. The young Canadian striker has found his way onto Team of the Matchday 24 after bagging a brace in Minnesota United’s 5-4 loss to Portland, a match that will live long in the memory of neutrals and members of both fanbases alike.
Since becoming a regular member of the first-team lineup at the tail end of Leagues Cup, Caldeira has played a total of just under 300 minutes, including four starts in the club’s last four league games. His impressive tally of four goals and one assist in that timeframe puts him at a clip of a goal involvement every 60 minutes, putting him among the league’s most threatening forwards during this incredible stretch of form.
That form came to a head this weekend with Caldeira’s first multi-goal performance for the first team, proving that he’s more than capable of transferring his scoring antics from MLS NEXT Pro to the big time (scored multiple hat tricks for MNUFC2 this season). His first finish got the Loons back into the game, a roofed shot at the near post to make it 3-1. His second finish was the leveler in the 50th minute, when his positioning afforded him an easy opportunity to double his name on the scoresheet and erase the deficit.
With a solid run of games and an upward trajectory, Caldeira doesn’t look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon. Congrats on the recognition, Marcus; it’s well deserved. Tune into the Loons’ next game against FC Dallas to see if he can keep the goal scoring going!
F: Vincent Janssen (POR), Josh Sargent (TOR), Petar Musa (DAL)
M: Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Danley Jean Jacques (PHI), Marco Reus (LA), Maren Haile-Selassie (CHI)
D: Guilherme Biro (ATX), DeAndre Yedlin (RSL), Tomas Totland (STL)
GK: Andre Blake (PHI)
Coach: Yoann Damet (STL)
Bench: Ethan Horvath (RBNY), Maxwell Woledzi (NSH), Lucas Halter (HOU), Conrad Wallem (STL), Beau Leroux (SJ), Marcus Caldeira (MIN), Antoine Griezmann (ORL), Breel Embolo (ATL), Gonzalo Tapia (CLB)
