SPORTS

China next destination on Morris trio's soccer journey

Jane Havsy
@dailyrecordspts

Bryan Machado and Rodrigo Santiago grew up playing soccer together, their fathers friends in their native Uruguay. They are back together again, along with Sam Gehman of Montville, across the midfield for semi-pro Icon FC in the fledgling American Soccer League.

Santiago left for Uruguay not long after graduating from Morris Hills. The Morris County Tournament MVP and the Morris County coaches' Player of the Year as the Scarlet Knights won the title, Santiago had big dreams of becoming a professional soccer star. Machado didn't even wait that long, heading to Uruguay after his sophomore year at Morris Catholic with the same dream.

"I still remember the Morris Hills days, the good ol' days," said Santiago, now 25 and living back at home with his mother and sisters in Rockaway.

"I feel like I can still go. I don't feel old. It's just the dream since I was little. You always have high hopes to make it somewhere else. … Seeing a lot of players who are working, not playing, at 25, that's what gets me. I don't want to start doing that yet. I want to keep chasing this dream."

The players don't make much – a flat fee for a victory, half that for a loss – but it's more than Santiago was being paid with second-division Canadian SC in Montevideo. Machado, 26, spent two years with Pinero, then moved to Italy for five seasons with Serie B and C teams.

Gehman, 25, played for Kszo Ostrowiec in Poland's third division last season – finally signing a pro deal after several trials there over the past four or five years – but had known Icon owner Greg Bajek since he was 17. He has toured Poland and India with Icon, determined to fulfil that long-held dream.

Icon is wrapping up a three-match, 10-day tour of China against Eastern FC of Hong Kong's Super Division today. Machado had a goal and Gehman an assist in a 6-0 defeat of Metro Gallery FC, 6-0, in Hong Kong on May 19. Icon was also scheduled to play Guangzhou R&F of China's Premier League on Friday.

The goal of the trip is to get Icon players signed by better-paying clubs in China. After picking up Polish in a year, Gehman has learned to say, "Hello. How are you? My name is Sam. I come from America," in Chinese.

But rules on foreign players in the main Chinese leagues are very strict, with only three permitted from any single nation – and five total in mainland China, six in Hong Kong.

"I didn't actually believe it at first, but then I thought, 'Maybe this guy's not lying,'" Santiago said of Bajek. "I took a chance. It was a tough decision, because I had my father in Uruguay and I had to tell him over the phone I wasn't coming back. It was hard, but I had to make a decision."

Santiago spent his first two years playing for the youth team at Juventud in his father's hometown of Las Piedras, riding two or three buses to practice every morning. He signed his first pro deal two years ago, but he only earned the equivalent of $500 per month. Comparatively, Icon's relative pittance is luxurious.

Machado has a full-time job as a delivery truck driver for Raymour & Flanagan, "It's not like I dropped everything to chase after a dream." With his wife and 3-year-old son Anthony at home in Dover, Machado insists he's being a responsible family man.

Icon hosts the Evergreen Diplomats of Bowie, Md., at Montville when the ASL schedule resumes on Saturday.

"But I can't let an opportunity like this pass by," Machado said. "That would be crazy. The first step is to go there and play and do good. The next step is to wait and see what happens."

Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@gannettnj.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/