When Maximiano was about 10 years old and his father worked with soccer players facilitating interviews, he watched Ibson play and win a championship in the famous Maracana Stadium in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined the possibility that about a decade later, he'd be playing alongside that star.
"I couldn't believe that I would be here playing with him now," Maximiano said in Portuguese through a translator. "It's pretty unbelievable."
Minnesota United's new holding midfielder has been learning from longtime central midfielder Ibson both on and off the field. Ibson, 34, seems to have taken his 22-year-old countryman under his wing. Maximiano clearly appreciates that, saying it's "phenomenal" how Ibson is always helping him, and he's just "very happy" to have him as a mentor.
And while the anecdote of Maximiano's youth might make Ibson feel old, Maximiano said he's always joking with Ibson that his quality is superior to anyone else, often telling him, "You're different."
Other notes from practice Tuesday at the National Sports Center:
Forward Christian Ramirez trained separately from the group, mainly running on the sidelines. He strained his right hamstring in the game Saturday.
"Day to day, really. Obviously when you have a tweaked hamstring, invariably you're looking at a minimum couple of weeks," coach Adrian Heath said. "But he felt a lot better in the last couple of days. Whether the weekend comes a little bit early, I don't know."
