Miguel Ibarra returns to Minnesota United FC this season, serving not only as an attacking midfielder but as a link to the club's past. In 2014, Ibarra became the first second-division player called up to the U.S. men's national team in almost a decade. The next year he earned a well-compensated move from Minnesota to Club León in the Mexican top division.
There was a moment early in his career, though, when it looked like Ibarra would go the way of so many other second-division players — all potential, no production.
Ibarra started all but a handful of games in his rookie season in 2012, scoring four goals. Coming into 2013, many had him tabbed as an impact player for Minnesota, which had just been purchased by Bill McGuire and was amassing more talent than it had been given in years. But Ibarra, immediately went into a sophomore slump. He scored just once in the spring season, and by the time the summer break rolled around, he was out of the starting lineup.
For most of August, Ibarra was a substitute, functioning as a change of pace for a team that was struggling mightily. Minnesota headed to San Antonio in late August with just one victory in four fall season games. Anything short of a win against the reeling Scorpions would probably put the Loons too far out of playoff contention to have any hope.
Minnesota's Pablo Campos scored on either side of halftime to give the team a 2-1 lead. But as that edition of United often did, the team gave up a late goal to level the score. As the clock hit 90:00, the Loons pressed forward, needing a goal.
Enter Ibarra, who should have been tired after making his first start in nearly a month. He chased down a loose ball on the right wing, near the corner flag, where two Scorpions defenders set upon him. In the matter of a couple of seconds, Ibarra lost the ball, won it back, lost it again and was knocked to the ground. But he never stopped working. Eventually, he won the ball against both defenders, received a return pass from a teammate in open space and fired in a pinpoint cross. It found teammate Connor Tobin's shoulder, then the back of the net, giving United an unlikely 3-2 victory.
For Ibarra, it seemed to be the turning point of both his season and his career. It was the day that he seemed to discover that his particular combination of skill and a never-say-die attitude could carry him through.
He was in the lineup for the rest of 2013 for Minnesota, earning his way into the league's Best XI. In 2014, he was league MVP. By mid-2015, he was on the national team, and off to Mexico — a stratospheric rise. After not getting much playing time there, he's now back, with a chance to be a face of a franchise moving to greater visibility.
