Sure, Sporting Kansas City would love to see Paulo Nagamura on the pitch more often. But even though injuries have limited the veteran midfielder's minutes in recent seasons, he keeps stepping up when the stakes are high.
“This is the time of year that you love to play,” Nagamura told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “This is the time of year that it matters most, and this is the time of year that it's basically do or die. So we're still not a lock into the playoffs. We have to look at every game as a final, and that's what we're trying to do here. We're trying to get as many points as we can and reach the playoffs.”
And with Sporting still hanging onto hopes of a regular-season finish atop the Eastern Conference – although they trail leaders D.C. United by six points going into Friday night's key away matchup (7 pm CT; NBCSN, live stream at NBCSports.com) – this is the sort of situation in which Nagamura typically thrives and lifts the club along with him.
“He's a winner, and that's why he's valuable to the team,” manager Peter Vermes told reporters after last Friday's 3-2 home loss to New England, which saw Nagamura lead a second-half comeback with a goal and an assist within a span of two minutes. “It's hard to find guys like that, but that's what he is. He'll find a way to win. He has a winning mentality, and he doesn't expect anything else, not from himself and not from his teammates.
“That's why he's important to the team, and that's why when he comes on we have success.”
Nagamura has struggled with a nagging ankle injury this season, appearing in only 17 of Sporting's 30 league matches so far. But since his return on Sept. 6, when he went 84 minutes in a 2-1 away loss to New York, the 31-year-old Brazilian has looked like anything but a man coming off a lengthy absence.
The New England game was his third match across all competitions in nine days, following two big CONCACAF Champions League home games.
“It's amazing that he can come back from an injury like that and be as good as he is,” center back Matt Besler said after the Revs game. “He looks fresh. He looks like he's flying on the field, and he's our spark plug. We'd like to have him the whole season. But I think everyone knows what you can get from a guy like Naga. Every time he steps on the field, he gives it his all.”
He's been doing that for Sporting since his arrival before the 2012 season, in a trade with Chivas USA.
That year saw Nagamura convert the winning penalty in the shootout stage of the US Open Cup final after a collision earlier in the match split open his left cheek. It was Sporting's first silverware since the then-Wizards took the Open Cup in 2004.
And last season, he withstood a series of knocks – including an ankle injury that kept him out from early September through the first leg of the East semifinals – before charging back with a series of gritty efforts that helped Kansas City lift the MLS Cup for the first time since 2000.
“He's a fighter. He's a battler. This guy's never going to give up,” said forward Dom Dwyer, who scored his 20th league goal of the season against New England when he headed home Nagamura's floated ball across the goalmouth. “He's a motivator. He gets you going. He gets me going. I can't speak highly enough of him. He's that guy who's going to fight for you. He's going to be standing right there behind you when you go to war.”
Nagamura, for his part, would rather talk about his team rather than himself. But when pressed, he makes it clear that he takes pride in his ability to provide a lift in the clutch.
“Sometimes, it's more heart than anything,” he said. “That's what I try to bring to this team. I try to bring, of course, my leadership and my experience that I have in the last few years. But at the end of the day, it's just who wants it more, and I want to bring that mentality within our team. We want to repeat what we did last year.
“We know how to do it and what it takes to be a successful team. So that's what I like to bring and help the team be successful again.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
