Colombian players have often brought good fortune to the MLS clubs who have signed them. For example, the first-ever league MVP was colourful midfielder Carlos Valderrama, who helped the Tampa Bay Mutiny finish atop the league standings in 1996.
Fourteen years later, another Colombian midfielder, David Ferreira, led FC Dallas to the MLS Cup final and was also named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
2010 was another great year for Colombia, with Real Salt Lake’s Jamison Olave being named MLS Defensive Player of the Year.
“I know most of the Colombian players in MLS,” said Rivas. “The one I spoke with the most before signing with the Impact was Olave. We’re good friends. He told me a lot of good things about the league and said that the calibre of play keeps getting better.”
Before leaving for Italy in 2007, the 28-year old central defender had often played alongside countrymen Jamison Olave (Salt Lake City), Jorge Perlaza (Portland), Fredy Montero and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle), and is looking forward to rejoining his old friends in MLS.
“I’m really pleased to be joining a dynamic league where everyone seems to want to improve at every level,” he said. “It’s even more motivating to be doing it with a club that’ll be taking its first steps in MLS.”
Even if he didn’t play very often because of his status on an extremely deep club at every position, the Colombian defender did manage to play 28 matches in the blue and black of Inter Milan, including a Champions League match versus Manchester United. Rivas was part of the clubs that won the Italian Serie A championship in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
In general, players from this side of the Atlantic usually do anything possible to stay on European soil once they get their first contract. Nelson Rivas was no different, but admits that at this stage of his career, nothing is more important than playing “without constantly competing with several other players to be in the starting 11,” he explained.
“At Inter, there were 10 or 12 players, pretty much all internationals, who were fighting for the four defensive spots. When you’ve got Lucio, Christian Chivu, Maicon, Walter Samuel and Javier Zanetti in the picture, it doesn’t leave much room for the others,” said Rivas.
Married to Meryjem Yaneth and the father of two young children (Jordan David, 3; Alana, 2), Rivas is expected to stand out with the newest MLS franchise next season. Impact sporting director Nick De Santis has told Rivas he will be a central figure that the club will build around.
“It’s the kind of thing I really wanted to hear,” he admitted. “Whether it’s in Europe or North America, you always want to feel useful. I’m strong, athletic and good in the air. I want to put my talent on display by intimidating opposing forwards.”
Nelson Rivas will likely enjoy his full-time playing status even more next season when he’s up against Colombian compatriots like forwards Fredy Montero, Jorge Perlaza, Fabian Castillo, Milton Rodriguez or Juan Pablo Angel, offensive-midfielders like Diego Chara, Roger Torres or David Ferreira, even defenders like Jamison Olave or Jair Benitez on corner-kick situations.
It should be interesting to see if the Impact’s high-profile rookie will be able to score a goal against another one of his countrymen, Faryd Mondragon, the starting goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union.
The Impact has high hopes for the first player under contract for its inaugural MLS season.
“Nelson has everything it takes to become the best central defender in the league,” concluded sporting director Nick De Santis.
Martin Smith, Impact Média
