Riqui Puig’s arrival in MLS is going better than anyone could have imagined. The Barcelona product has always been considered a gifted player, but doubts arose around his abilities to succeed at the top level. After an incredible long distance precision assist against in the Galaxy’s last game against New England, Puig scored his first MLS goal in absolutely stunning fashion: a 30-yard blast to give his team a point against Toronto FC.
The strike was reminiscent of prime vintage David Beckham. When Riqui Puig took the ball and launched it to beat a stretched out Alex Bono at goal, the parallels with the English soccer legend were easy to draw.
Beckham, like Puig, joined the MLS in 2007 completely unexpectedly, and did so from one of LaLiga’s giants, Real Madrid. Puig did the same, and for the same club except he, of course, is product of La Masia (nickname given to Barcelona’s training academy).
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Beckham’s long range strike against the Portland Timbers on April 14th, 2012, is eerily similar to the goal Riqui Puig scored as his debut MLS goal. Will we continue seeing more similarities between both as time goes by?
Will Riqui Puig become an MLS legend or go play in Europe again?
Although it’s early, it seems safe to say that Puig’s decision to play in Major League Soccer has been a win-win for everyone involved. Will Puig use this new stint in his career to prove he can play for a European giant, or will the 23 year-old become an MLS and Galaxy legend? Only time will tell.
In his first complete season in MLS, David Beckham had a team-best 10 assists and also five goals in 25 games. So far, Riqui Puig has played in 3 games, and has 1 goal and one assist to his name. His pass completion is also an oustanding 89.2%. The Galaxy only have 7 regular season games to go, but if Puig keeps up the numbers he has now, he could definitely stand his own against prime vintage ‘Becks’.
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