FC Tucson had tied the first two games of its eight-day, four-match road trip when coach Dave Cosgrove made a call — and Damian German booked a flight.
The star forward met the team in Colorado last Friday morning. He scored four goals in two games, helping FC Tucson to two wins and a spot in the PDL playoffs.
The Men in Black will play FC Golden State Force on Friday in Rose Hills, California, for the Western Conference semifinals. With a win, FC Tucson would play the winner of Calgary Foothills FC and Colorado Rapids U23 in Saturday’s conference final.
Cosgrove called the decision to fly in German, who was taking summer school courses in Phoenix, “probably the best coaching decision I’ve ever made in my career.”
“And we needed it,” he said, “because we had heavy legs and he was fresh.”
Damian German, right, was summoned from Phoenix last week, where he was taking summer school courses, to help FC Tucson secure a playoff berth. He scored four goals in two games.
While Cosgrove said he believes the team could have found a way to continue its season with or without German, his appearance certainly made things easier.
German scored both goals in a 2-1 win over the Colorado Pride Switchbacks U23, and scored two of the team’s three goals in a rematch on Saturday.
FC Tucson did it all with a roster that had been decimated by injuries, transfers to professional teams and schedule conflicts.
“Some people say we snuck in, but I don’t think there’s many teams in the country that can go on the road four games in seven days with 17-18 players and get those results,” Cosgrove said. “I think we earned our way in.”
Now, Tucson will have to beat the No. 1 seed to keep moving along.
Henry Lander, an FC Tucson captain, believes the team can put up a good fight.
“I feel like this team, we’re so diverse — we’ve got a bunch of players from a bunch of different regions,” Lander said. “As much as they’ll give us a challenge, I think we’ll give them a challenge and give them something different as well.”
Cosgrove said the team is playing as well as it has all year. While he would have preferred not to face the No. 1 team right off the bat, the matchup may have been unavoidable down the line.
FC Tucson’s not-so-secret weapon could help even matters. German is scheduled to land in California on Friday morning.
“We’ll take our chances,” he said, “and see if we’re good enough.”
