Nogueira Downplays His 2nd MVP Award
Victor Nogueira, who has made a career of jumping in front of missiles fired by soccer players, spent Tuesday dodging questions from reporters. It was an uncomfortable day for the Sockers’ goalie--reporters kept asking him about the MSL’s Most Valuable Player award, which he won for the second consecutive year.
“The questions come faster than the shots,” Nogueira said sarcastically when asked about his discomfort.
Nogueira didn’t like being singled out in what he considers a team effort. When asked what he felt set him apart, Nogueira said, “That’s for you guys to say.”
For the second season in a row Nogueira was the only goalie to finish with a goals-against average less than 5 (4.60). So steady was he in the semifinals, Baltimore Coach Kenny Cooper remarked that the Sockers would be nowhere without him.
Nogueira saw things differently.
“I think I have a very good chemistry with my defenders,” Nogueira said. “And that counts for a lot. I had a bad defense in Chicago where I was for four years, and I did OK, but without a defense in front of me, I wasn’t even rated.”
Nogueira took exception to another award announcement Tuesday because the right person wasn’t singled out, he said. In Coach of the Year voting, done by the league’s seven coaches, Dallas’ Gordon Jago edged Socker Coach Ron Newman. With five points accompanying each first-place vote, three for second and one for third, Jago finished with 24 points to Newman’s 22.
“That’s a joke,” Nogueira said. “That’s unbelievable. Obviously there’s no choice. There’s no doubt who should have won. To start from scratch and come through like he did . . . But I guess you can’t vote for him every year.”
Despite winning nine championships in the past 10 years--and going for a 10th--Newman has won Coach of the Year honors only once, in 1988.
“(The streak) is a reflection on Ron,” Nogueira said. “He gets us and makes the chemistry work between us. It’s evident who should be coach of the year.”
The voting has ignited a fire underneath Newman, whose Sockers open the championship series against Jago’s Sidekicks Thursday (7:35 p.m.) at the Sports Arena.
