“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done”, the famous Walt Whitman poem begins. Union Omaha’s 1-1 draw against Forward Madison was poetic or film-like as club captain, Sebastian Contreras would say.
“It was like a movie,” Contreras said.
Union Omaha leveled the score with a stunning, paneka style penalty kick from Contreras. Forward Madison struggled to clear the ball after a long pass was put into the box. Flamingos defender Connor Tobin lunged at the ball clipping Ethan Vanacore-Decker in the box for the obvious penalty.
“I saw the ball and I went for it,” Contreras said through translation. “It was going to be me who was going to kick it.”
Contreras’ goal knotted up the score at one goal a piece. Forward Madison took the lead in the 8’ from a free kick by midfielder Michael Vang. The cross found the head of Eric Leonard who glancing shot looped over Owls’ goalkeeper, Rashid Nuhu for the opening goal.
Union Omaha Head Coach, Jay Mims was not worried about the team’s set piece defending.
“That’s professional soccer,” Mims said. “Most goals come off of set pieces.”
Union Omaha dominated possession the entire game with 64% of the ball which resulted in many opportunities to find the winner especially in the second half.
Damia Viader looked great in the match against Madison utilizing his skillset that he has shown throughout the season. His speed and crossing ability has made the Owls dangerous in the attacking third.
Substitutes Ferrety Sousa and Elvir Ibisevic came onto the pitch in the 60’ and provided an instant spark.
“Those few guys [Sousa and Ibisevic] that came in brought us something and changed the game,” Mims said.
Shot after shot came in the second half to no avail as Forward Madison defender Josiah Trimmingham earned his second yellow in the 83’. Madison was down to 10 men for the closing minutes as the Union Omaha attack could not earn the winning goal.
“We were hoping for that second goal, Sousa missed that open one that hit off of the post and Elvir had one cleared off the line,” Mims said. “Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do,”
This was the most possession that Union Omaha has earned all season as the Owls dominated and dictated the style of play all game.
“We had 65% possession so that was good for the fans for the fans to see a different style and different look,” Mims said.
Union Omaha’s next game pits the Owls against North Texas SC in Dallas on Sunday, August 23rd at 8 PM CT.
Here are the three questions on my mind (plus a bonus question!) before our game against the Flamingos.
1) Is Forward Madison a good soccer team?
Regardless of how you feel about their supporters, this season has been a mixed bag for Forward on the field. They’ve lost twice on the road: once to an okay Richmond team and once a possibly good, possibly bad North Texas team. But they have a very convincing home record with their 4-0 win against Tormenta (albeit against the worst defense in the League) and their draw against Greenville, which is the only game all year in which the Triumph has dropped points. Our very own Elo rankings have Madison as the fourth best team in the league right now (we’re third). Without the lines of four different sports on the field to confuse their opponents is Madison able to put it together for a competitive match in Omaha?
2) Which lineup will we see for Los Buhos?
Will Jay recall the team that beat Tuscon or put forth the rotated squad that was going to play Chattanooga, or a mixture of the two? My guess is the mixture of the two, but we’ll learn a lot about Jay’s rotation policy when the lineups come out. Don’t forget we have to go to North Texas for a Sunday night game, but it has been 10 days since we last played so everyone should be rested and healthy. Which game does Jay think needs our A lineup?
3) Will the game on the field look and feel like a rivalry game?
The chirping back and forth between supporters on Twitter has been nearly constant since the end of last season. Union Omaha fans’ desire for a rivalry with the best supported team in League One was egged on by the provocative actions of the front office (myself way guiltier than all others combined) over the winter. But after months of being told we aren’t rivals by Forward fans, I think UO supporters have given up on the idea of a rivalry between the clubs. After all rivalries do require two competitive teams on the field and two willing fanbases off the field and Madison seems to be putting forward neither right now.
Ok, cheap shots aside, I’ve always believed that the first game between the two teams will determine if there is a rivalry or not. If the game has some controversial calls that go Omaha’s way, if the Owls crush the ‘Mingos, if Evan Conway has an outrageous anti-Madison celebration (suggestion for any goal scorers reading this: stand on one leg, flap your arms, and then fall over), Madison fans may realize they absolutely detest our team and our fanbase. If it happens, that is what will spark a rivalry. If it doesn’t happen, so be it, we will have rivals soon enough.
Bonus question: will Philipp Marceta acknowledge my heckles about his recent attempt to follow my wife on instagram?
Seriously, this happened on Monday. I can’t emphasize enough that my wife is her own person and whomever she allows to follow her is entirely her decision and it has no bearing on me or our relationship. BUT, man is it a strange coincidence. Was he looking for her pithy insta stories about politics and social work memes, maybe seeking princess photos of our girls that I’ve somehow neglected to post, or just trying to build his brand one opposing female fan at a time? [Editor’s note: Ben isn’t that special, Philipp followed me as well.Based on his photos he is an average fisherman and an above average person, even if he unfollowed me.] I intend to satisfy my curiosity!
Union Omaha faces Forward Madison in Week 6 of USL One competition on Wednesday, August 19th at 7pm CST in Omaha. The Owls come into this weekday clash after strange circumstances in Chattanooga while the Flamingos come off of their first win in 2020.
Union Omaha
The Owls return to action after 10 days to face Forward Madison in Werner Park. Last week, the Owls were supposed to face Chattanooga Red Wolves in a matchup that pitted second and third place, yet mother nature had other ideas. The two teams were delayed due to lightning and rain. The delay took too long and play could not begin because CHI Memorial Stadium in Chattanooga has not been fitted for professional lighting suitable to play at night. This made the game impossible to play so the Owls were sent home without playing the game.
Exciting things were bound to happen against Chattanooga. Forward Elvir Ibisevic was primed to make his first start of the season with centerback Daltyn Knutson getting back with his first start since suffering an injury after the game against New England 2 . It is unclear if Head Coach Jay Mims will return to the usual starting lineup of Forwards Evan Conway, Ethan Vanacore-Decker and Juan Mare or if he will turn to Ibisevic or Elma N’for.
Union Omaha will rely on the attacking prowess of Damia Viader who has created 8 chances which ranks him seventh in chances created in the USL One. Also, Vanacore-Decker has created 7 chances which has bolstered Union Omaha’s attack.
Forward Madison
This game against the Owls will show if the Flamingos are contenders or pretenders. Madison is currently in 7th place with 4 points making them ahead of Orlando City B and Fort Lauderdale CF on goal differential.
The first win of the season came last Friday when they defeated South Georgia Tormenta FC. The Flamingos dismantled a Tormenta team that was short on staff and players due to COVID-19 restrictions. Madison won 4-0 earning the clean sheet as four different Flamingos’ players scored.
Last Week’s USL One Player of the Week came from Madison as forward Don Smart earned the honors. Smart recorded a goal and two assists against Tormenta which added to his total of most chances created for the Flamingos with 7. Smart and fellow striker Wojciech Wojcik are the two players to keep an eye on for the Madison club. Wojcik leads the club with two goals and has been a constant threat in front of net.
Young midfielder, Michael Vang earned his first goal in Madison against Tormenta. The 20-year-old graduated from the prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary’s Highschool which has produced the most Division One soccer players in the country. Vang decided to forgo his college playing and enter straight into the professional ranks. HIs strong play against Tormenta may see him in the starting XI against Union Omaha.
My Prediction
Union Omaha 3-1 Forward Madison
Union Omaha earns the victory in easy fashion as the Owls lead 2-0 at the half thanks to goals from Vanacore-Decker and midfielder Devin Boyce. This would be Boyce’s first career professional goal. Forward Madison’s goal should come in the second half from solid build up play and an effective cross from Smart. The Owls will finish the Flamingos off due to a late goal from a substitute, either N’for or Ibisevic will slot it past the keeper for the home side.
Normally after a game-day I would be re-watching, dissecting, and basking in the glory that is Union Omaha’s brand of lower division soccer. However, August 12th 2020 did not afford me such an opportunity. On a hot summer afternoon in Chattanooga TN, much like many other hot summer afternoons, rain and lightning graced CHI Memorial Park with a prolonged presence, resulting in a rain delay.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “a rain delay, that’s no problem, why not wait it out and play late like Union Omaha did at their first home match”? Simple answer, lights.
The work teams across the USL have done in creating new, vibrant, and expensive soccer specific stadiums, has been down right impressive and frankly, needed. Soccer has never looked more ready to become a stakeholder in the lives of your average American sports viewer than it is now. Third division soccer teams playing in USL League One like the Chattanooga Red Wolves and South Georgia Tormenta are creating great spaces for professional soccer to thrive! This impressive rush to build stadiums across America leads me to the point of this rant… rushing.
As everyone reading this will know, 2020 is a year unique for many reasons, not least of which is the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. When the decision to play was made a season by the League One board of governors, it was not in a bubble, it was not without fans, it was going to happen throughout the nationwide footprint of the third division league. Our lads were going to be taking buses, planes, travelling to areas where the impact of the pandemic might be higher, all for the sake of playing the sport we love to watch them play.
Why, if players and staff are risking more than their pride, would you create a place that not guarantee travel was wasted? Chattanooga did just that by failing to look at lighting options.
A 5 minute internet search finds a plethora of light rental options for modular, generator based lighting options for affordable prices in the Chattanooga area. If I can manage that in 5 minutes, given a month of lead time from schedule release to your first and second home games, wouldn’t you think a front office would look into that option?
My issue is not that the stadium is unfinished, delays happen. It is that our players spent 3 days in Chattanooga, during a global pandemic, for a game that did not happen due to a fully avoidable circumstance. How is that acceptable? How were Union Omaha not awarded the 3 points for a forfeit? At the end of the day, it was human error, not weather, that caused the cancellation. I’m pretty sure that’s grounds for a forfeit.
It seems as though the Red Wolves and league took near immediate action following the postponement of the game, by rescheduling the remainder of Chattanooga’s home games for 1pm ET. The questions now moves to, was it hubris that games were not initially scheduled for that time? Is the schedule change fair for your sponsors who are expecting evening games? Is it fair to your fans who were expecting evening games out of the hot sun? Is it fair to the players, who are now playing in that same hot sun? The questions are out there and I’m curious to find the answers.
Unless something changes, our lads will be travelling again to Chattanooga during this pandemic to play a game that should already have happened. Something that renting some lights would have solved.
All we do is win win win no matter what. That is on the minds of everybody who watched that FC Tucson match! Although Union Omaha is 0-1 against lightning storms this season, they are bringing the strike to the pitch and to our wallets! If you decided to ride with me during the FC Tucson game you got PAID with their performance, and you would be a fool not to ride with me when they go up against Forward Madison.
Just a friendly reminder to everyone, Who Gives a Hoot is an independent podcast, and we have no affiliation with Union Omaha. I know just as much information about players as you all do: Zero. Zip. Nada. So when you read this article please only read this article coming from somebody who has gambling experience. No bets are guaranteed.
Week 4 and 5 is in the books everyone, and despite Union Omaha missing out their match against Chattanooga Red Wolves, the owls are in 2nd place and are in contention to pass Greenville and get that first place spot. Since we didn’t have a game against Chattanooga, that means the next match will be against Forward Madison Wednesday at 7:00 PM. The weather seems like its going to be decent, with the real feel temperature being at 81 degrees F and the wind being at 9 MPH. The wind might be a little concerning but I don’t think its going to be anything that will cause concern.
Without further ado, lets get down to the nitty gritty and make some picks!
Evan Conway, 0.5 Goals+ Assists, Over 135
Evan Conway, coming off an incredible high from scoring the game winning goal and first goal in club history against North Texas, showed up again to nab an assist in the FC Tucson game. With a unintended break this week Evan Conway’s batteries are going to be recharged going up against Forward Madison and you can guess that he is going to be involved in scoring a goal. Take the over. GG Easy.
Rashid Nuhu, 3.5 Saves, Under 125
Now for people who follow along with Owl Props, you know that I have been a huge fan of Rashid and his goal keeping capabilities. You know that I have affectionately referred to Union Omaha’s defense as a Brick Wall. Now sometimes, a brick wall can get sometimes wear and tear and may inevitably have some cracks. Last game FC Tucson managed to find one of those cracks and managed to score a goal against Rashid. I don’t care if your name happens to be Manuel Neuer or Piotr Cech, you can’t stop a goal that you can’t see, and if that happens to be the one crack in this brick wall defense, I’ll take it, but I can guarantee you that a goal like that won’t happen for Forward Madison. 3.5 saves. Take the under folks.
Tyler David, 0.5 Goals + Assists, Under 65
Tyler David came out onto the pitch late against FC Tucson due to rest, but still provided an instant impact on the pitch. I suspect him to start against Forward Madison and provide a solid midfield presence as he does every single time he touches the ball. I don’t expect him to be on the offensive much this game so taking the under on his performance is a safe bet.
Elma Nfor, 0.5 Goals, Over 135
Elma Nfor is the most underrated player on Union Omaha’s roster. The former Lansing United man is an instant impact player whom played a huge role in Union Omaha’s goal against North Texas. This man is HUNGRY for goals. If Elma doesn’t get the start against Forward Madison he will come on as a sub and score.
Ethan Vanacore-Decker, 0.5 Assists, Over 130
My man EVD got all the praise in his performance against FC Tucson and deserved all of it. The Uncle Rico of USL League One is THE goal scorer for Union Omaha and if you don’t think he is going to be involved in all of Union Omaha’s goals against the Flamingos from Madison (which I don’t think people talk about enough. Why would Flamingos be in Wisconsin? So bizarre) you are crazier than I am.
ICE PICK: Luke Hauswirth, 0.5 Goals, Over 140
Luke Hauswirth came out of nowhere against FC Tucson and scored a goal against his former team. Forward Madison is having such an up and down season that I believe we may have the most goals scored against a team in USL League One in the history of the league, and Luke can very well score against Madison again to help.
ICE PICK: Illal Osumanu, 0.5 Goals + Assists, Under 65
Illal is having a dynamite season so far, and a huge reason why Union Omaha has only allowed 1 goal so far this season. Just as he has been in previous weeks, I believe that he will be staying back mostly this game and I don’t suspect him to be upfront, but rather keeping sure that Union Omaha keeps this brick wall defense rolling.
And there you have it folks, my picks for the upcoming Union Omaha match against Forward Madison. If you would like to follow along with these picks or make your own suggestions than head on over to thrivefantasy.com or download the ThriveFantasy app now and use promo code HOOT when you create your account. When you use promo code HOOT and you deposit a minimum of $10 or more you will receive $10. That’s free money folks so head to over to ThriveFantasy and #PropUp on the Union Omaha Match.
Who Gives a Hoot’s exclusive League 1 Elo Rankings are created by local wizard and Union Omaha fan, Jon Ryan. We will be releasing updated rankings each Monday as part of the Data Dump column or when Union Omaha doesn’t play as a standalone. What follows is a full explanation of the work he is doing in his own words.
The Elo rating system (named after its developer, Arpad Elo) was originally designed to determine the skill levels of individual players in what are known as zero-sum games, in this case chess was the game Elo was most interested in. However this formula can be adapted to consider other games and sports, soccer of course being one of them. While not officially used by FIFA, Elo ratings are still calculated to this day in international soccer. As of the writing of this document (August 12, 2020) Belgium is currently the highest rated team, and have been since November 16, 2019.
The “zero-sum” aspect of an Elo rating system is still respected regarding soccer in that at the conclusion of a match, one team’s rating will increase a specific amount and their opponent’s will decrease by the exact same amount. Numerous variables go into calculating a team’s rating after the result of a particular match:
Their rating prior to the match
The rating of their opponent prior to the match
The location of the match (home vs. away vs. neutral)
The result of the match (including goal difference)
The importance of the match (friendly, tournament, final, etc.)
Using the elements above, a formula can be calculated to determine the adjustment to a rating from the results of an individual match. The basic formula used is:
Ro + P = Rn
The variables above are defined as: Rn = New team rating Ro = Old team rating P = Change in points
The “P” variable has a formula of its own: P = KG (W – We) The variables above are defined as: K = Weight applied based on the match importance (see table below) G = Number from an index applied based on goal difference (see table below) W = Match result (1 for a win, 0.5 for a draw) We = Expected result (see formula below)
How to determine “K” Table for variable labeled “K”:
Match Type
K
Regular Season
30
Postseason
40
League Final
50
How to determine “G” The variable listed as “G” will simply have a value of 1 if a match ends in a draw or a one goal difference. If the result of a match is a two goal difference, the value of “G” is 1.5. For all other results, the following formula is used, where “N” is the goal difference of the match:
G = (11 + N) / 8
Using the above formula, the index that determines “G” looks like this:
Goal Difference
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
G
1
1
1.5
1.75
1.875
2
2.125
2.25
How to determine “We“ Finally, we need to determine win expectancy. This formula looks complicated, but when you have a spreadsheet to do all of the work for you it’s not so bad:
We = 1 / (10 -dr/400 + 1)
“dr” is the difference between the two team’s ratings. If the match is not at a neutral location, add 100 points to the home team’s rating before calculating.
It’s as simple as that! A team with an Elo rating of 1500 is considered to be an average team, so in order to calculate these ratings each team started with an equal rating of 1500 at the beginning of the 2019 season. Here is an example of how the match on March 30, 2019 between Orlando City B and FC Tucson (both club’s season openers) was calculated, a match won by FC Tucson 3-1:
Orlando City B (Home)
We = 1 / (10 -dr/400 + 1)
We = 1 / (10-((1500+100)-1500))/400+ 1)
We = 1 / (10-(100/400) + 1)
We = 1 / (10-.25 + 1)
We = 1 / 1.562
We = .6401 (64.01%)
P = KG (W – We)
P = 30 (1.5) (0 – .6401)
P = -28.8029
Rn = Ro + P
Rn = 1500 – 28.8029
Rn = 1471.1971
FC Tucson (Away)
We = 1 / (10 -dr/400 + 1)
We = 1 / (10-(1500-(1500+100))/400+ 1)
We = 1 / (10-(-100/400) + 1)
We = 1 / (10.25 + 1)
We = 1 / 2.778279
We = .3599 (35.99%)
P = KG (W – We)
P = 30 (1.5) (1 – .3599)
P = 28.8029
Rn = Ro + P
Rn = 1500 + 28.8029
Rn = 1528.8029
As you can see above, everything that is not a constant is in direct relation to the opponent due to the zero sum nature of Elo rankings. For example, each team’s chances of winning the match are combined to equal 1, and the winning team gains the same number of points that the defeated team loses. Naturally these ratings fluctuate over the course of the season, leading to the following ratings right before the 2019 USL League One final played between North Texas and Greenville Triumph (rounded to the nearest point):
Team
Rating
North Texas
1635
Greenville Triumph
1576
Lansing Ignite
1562
Forward Madison
1556
Chattanooga Red Wolves
1503
South Georgia Tormenta
1475
Toronto FC II
1471
FC Tucson
1453
Richmond Kickers
1450
Orlando City B
1318
Let’s look at an example from one more match from last season, the 2019 USL League One Cup Final (for the sake of simplicity, ratings are rounded to the nearest whole number for display purposes only, results below are from the calculation of the actual ratings):
North Texas Soccer Club
We = 1 / (10 -dr/400 + 1)
We = 1 / (10-((1635+100)-1576))/400+ 1)
We = 1 / (10-(159/400) + 1)
We = 1 / (10-.3975 + 1)
We = 1 / 1.4004
We = .7141 (71.41%)
P = KG (W – We)
P = 50 (1) (1 – .7141)
P = 14.2907
Rn = Ro + P
Rn = 1635 + 14.2907
Rn = 1649.2907
Greenville Triumph
We = 1 / (10 -dr/400 + 1)
We = 1 / (10-(1576-(1635+100))/400+ 1)
We = 1 / (10-(-159/400) + 1)
We = 1 / (10.3975 + 1)
We = 1 / 3.49747
We = .2859 (28.59%)
P = KG (W – We)
P = 50 (1) (0 – .2859)
P = 14.2907
Rn = Ro + P
Rn = 1576 – 14.2907Rn = 1561.7093
So, that’s the 2019 season in a nutshell. Now, how do we handle the start of the 2020 season? Should roster churn account for anything? What about new teams? So, obviously, just because 2020 is Union Omaha’s first season doesn’t mean we should pretend 2019 didn’t happen. That’s why in order to begin tracking how Union Omaha compares to the rest of the league, the 2019 season needed to be calculated first. Then, I arbitrarily decided to reduce all team’s gains/losses over the course of the previous season by 50% to account for roster churn, venue changes, and coaching changes. So, each team moved closer to 1500 (that base position representing an average team) while all new teams were assigned a new value of 1500 to start the 2020 season. These adjustments can be seen below:
Team
2019 final rating
2020 opening rating
North Texas
1650
1575
Greenville Triumph
1562
1531
Lansing Ignite
1562
R.I.P.
Forward Madison
1556
1528
Chattanooga Red Wolves
1503
1502
South Georgia Tormenta
1475
1488
Toronto FC II
1471
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
FC Tucson
1453
1477
Richmond Kickers
1450
1475
Orlando City B
1318
1409
Fort Lauderdale CDF
—
1500
New England II
—
1500
Union Omaha
—
1500
With this as the baseline we’ve been testing our model each week and are ready to go live at the end of Matchweek 5.
Juan Mare pondering if he will score against his old club. Photo by Simon Asher
1) How do we slow down Greg Hurst?
Greg Hurst has four goals on six shots (all of which were on target) and one assist with two crosses. Even in this small sample size season, it seems unlikely he will keep up his rate of one goal per 62.5 minutes for the whole season, but he will be the hottest player the Union Omaha has faced to date. No player on the Red Wolves has more than one assist, but two players have created four chances each while three other players have created three chances each. As such it should take a team defensive effort to shut down the Red Wolves attack.
League One’s best defense should be up to the challenge though, and as a bonus it looks like we will find out what happens when an unstoppable object meets a brick wall.
2) How does Jay rotate the midfield?
We saw a brand new midfield combo on Saturday night in Tuscon with JP Scearce coming in for Tyler David. The midfield didn’t seem to miss a beat with the rotation of players. Will Jay show us a combination we’ve seen before or rotate players again and give us a new lineup. This game is going to be the first real fitness test for the players and I have no idea what Jay thinks about load management. Hard to see changes on the back line and we’ll talk about player selection in the attack next, but I could see any of six midfielders starting (Devin Boyce, JP Scearce, Tyler David, Sebastian Contreas, Christian Molina, Austin Panchot) in three spots in almost any combination.
Note: I’m unwilling at this time to explore what position Evan Conway is actually playing right now and equally unwilling to speculate on whether we are playing a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. When it becomes an issue we’ll address it.
3) Who generates the offense?
Ethan Vanacore-Decker, Elma Nfor, and Evan Conway memorably combined for the first goal in club history. But did you know that in the 82 minutes they have been on the pitch together, Los Buhos have scored all of their goals? (Ethan has been involved directly in all three. Please consider this the official kickoff of the ‘Uncle Rico for MVP’ campaign.) How long will we get the Triple E offense (spelled offEEEnse) in this game? Does JP finally score from outside the box after forcing amazing saves in each of his last two appearances? Will Juan Mare break out against his old club?
At the age of 18 what would you have been willing to do to pursue your dreams? Could you have imagined getting on a plane, traveling for almost 27 hours, traversing across three continents, and showing up in the middle of the night, with no cell phone, in a place you’ve only heard of recently? In 2016, that was what it took for Union Omaha defender Illal Osmanu to continue to pursue his soccer dreams. Recently I chatted with Illal about his soccer journey to learn more about what led him to become an Owl.
Every player’s journey starts with the first kick of a ball, and Illal remembers first playing soccer around the age of six with his friends in the yard in Accra, Ghana. During his childhood, his favorite player was Zinedine Zidane and he loved wearing his blue #10 France kit around the house and even to bed.
Source: USL League One Twitter account
His first organized play was for Strong Tower FC, in Accra, a club he would be a part of for almost ten years. Due to his love for Zidane, he started out playing forward, but his love of aggressive play and hard slide tackles led his coaches to move him to the backline. He first played right back before settling in as a center back around the age of 14, a position he currently plays for Union Omaha.
Growing up a part of Strong Tower FC, Illal played with two players currently in the Ghanian national team player pool: Mohammed Kudus (Ajax) and Majeed Ashimeru (Red Bull Salzburg). It was with those budding superstars that Illal would run 20 laps around the field after losses. Illal recalled that the laps would need to be run if the team did not play hard enough, and that the punishment was a vital part of him learning to play hard at a young age. So when you are admiring Illal’s workrate for the Owls be sure to thank his coaches at Strong Tower FC.
FC Tucson vs. Union Omaha 8/8/20 in Tucson, Ariz. Photo by Simon Asher
At the age of 16, Illal joined the Rising Stars of Africa Academy (RSA) in Accra. To date he remains one of their most impressive success stories. Having begun playing center back full time a few years before, he played center back at the RSA. It was at there that Illal honed the skills in the classroom that he would later put to use in becoming an Academic All American at Marshall. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
According to their website RSA is a “sports development charity whose vision is to offer coaching, education and financial support to talented young people in Ghana and ultimately to give them the chance to fulfill their sporting potential and to unify their local communities through sport.” At the RSA they seek “to create sporting and educational opportunities for those individuals who may otherwise be limited by circumstance.”
Union Omaha v. North Texas SC. 08/01/2020. Photo: Union Omaha
At RSA, Illal played alongside future pros such as KingLord Safo (FC Vizela) and Abu Sanunu (Kokkolan Palloveikot). A highlight of this stop on his journey was the first time he left Ghana. The RSA team traveled to a tournament in Benin to play against older opponents. Although they would go on to lose in the final, the two weeks spent hearing a different language and eating different food left a mark on Illal.
Due to RSA’s close relationship with University of Charleston head coach Chris Graisse, Illal became the first RSA graduate to receive a scholarship offer to continue his education in the United States. So, armed with no cell phone, Illal packed his belongings in a suitcase and flew from Accra to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Charleston, West Virginia, all the while hoping that when he arrived in the middle of the night, someone would miraculously be there to pick him up.
Source: University of Charleston Soccer
Thankfully for him, and us, someone was. In Charleston, Illal enjoyed a fantastic freshman season at D-II powerhouse soccer program, University of Charleston. Playing with future Pittsburgh Riverhound Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Illal played left back and of course, his usual center back. In his freshman season, University of Charleston made it all the way to the D-II championship game to face off against another Union Omaha favorite, Elma Nfor.
Illal recognized Elma as soon as he arrived at practice because “Elma looks exactly the same,” but acknowledged that he had grown a bit since 2016. Elma’s Wingate University won a national title that December day outside of Kansas City, but the success on the pitch led Coach Grassie to Marshall University. Upon Coach Grassie’s return to the school where he had been a grad assistant and received his masters degree, he brought one player with him from University of Charleston: Illal Osmanu.
Source: Illal Osmanu Facebook
Illal’s three years at Marshall were capped by a sensational senior season in which the club went 16-3-3, won the regular season Conference USA title, won the Conference USA tournament, earned an eleven seed overall in the NCAA soccer tournament, and had a delicious first round matchup against regional rival West Virginia. That 2-1 victory for the Thundering Herd was Illal’s favorite memory of his time in Huntington, WV.
During his last two collegiate summers, Illal played in USL2. In the summer of 2018, Illal played nine games for the mighty Flint City Bucks and memorably won a game 14-1 at Derby City Rovers. In 2019, Illal was interning for West Virginia Alliance FC as part of earning his sports management degree when he was pressed into service at the end of the season to play center back for six games as other players drifted home for the summer.
FC Tucson vs. Union Omaha 8/8/20 in Tucson, Ariz. Photo by Simon Asher
Illal piled up many accolades at Marshall. Of note, a 2019 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America Team award, and a 2019 All-Conference USA First Team award as well. Finishing his senior season with such recognition and such success should not diminish his whole career, though. At Marshall, Illal missed only two matches and started 58-of-59 matches during his career, playing an average of 88 minutes and 24 seconds per game. For those curious who the next star from Marshall may be, Illal spoke highly of rising senior Pedro Dolabella as a player to watch for the Thundering Herd next season.
Obviously, the next stop on Illal’s journey was Union Omaha. So how did he get here? After signing with an agent, Union Omaha was the first place that offered Illal a trial. He arrived and immediately impressed everyone. At one point while scouting Union Omaha during their first intrasquad scrimmage at the Omaha Sports Complex, the Creighton coaching staff expressed amazement that he was not already signed to a contract. Illal signed a contract on return from the team’s preseason trip to Utah, and has started all three regular season games at right center back for Los Buhos. Three starts into his professional career, Illal is anchoring the best backline in League One. It is safe to say we should expect big things to come from Illal.
Source: Illal Osmanu Facebook
As for what is next, Illal told me he doesn’t like setting anything more than short term goals. So what are those goals? To win as much as possible right now and focus on winning a championship. His theory is that the better you do as a team, the more folks are watching you and the more opportunities will emerge. Anyone who has watched Illal play at Union Omaha knows we’re just one stop on what is sure to be a much longer journey full of successes.
League One is kind of enough to provide us fans with some serious data on every game from Opta. Here are three insights I’ve gleaned last night’s game. This is Data Dump.
1) Our full backs are providing a lot of our wing play.
If you look at the heat maps for our full backs (Dami Viader and Luke Hauswirth):
Heatmap for fullbacks (Dami Viader, Luke Hauswirth)
And compare them to our wide midfield players (Evan Conway, Sebastián Contreras, Austin Panchot, Christian Molina):
Heatmap for wide midfield players (Evan Conway, Sebastián Contreras, Austin Panchot, Christian Molina)
You can see that Dami and Luke are providing a lot of the play along the sidelines in our opponents half.
You can also see that our full backs provided all but one of our successful crosses in the game.
Union Omaha successful crosses.
2) Brick walls can pass, too.
Looking at player stats for our backline we can see that our center backs were two of the most prolific passers on the team.
Backline general stats.Backline individual defensive stats.
We can also see that our center backs were successful in completing passes in areas where turnovers would be disastrous.
Successfully completed passes by Jake Crull and Illal Osmanu.
Additionally, we can see that Jake, the former left back, was more willing to try attack oriented passes than Illal was. Many of these passes were unsuccessful, but they were from reasonable positions to try risky passes.
Unsuccessful passes for Jake and Illal.
3) Elma was everywhere.
If it felt like Elma Nfor, (just one part of the now potent Triple E Offense (Elma, Evan, Ethan) was everywhere last night, he sort of was. He was involved in a match high 20 duels (defined as 50/50 balls).
Triple E general stats.
He also had measurable contributions all over the pitch.
All of Elma’s measurable actions, successful and unsuccessful.
When compared to Juan’s game against North Texas (a bit of apples to oranges here), it seems like Jay Mims once again played the right card.
All of Juan Mare’s measurable actions, successful and unsuccessful, against North Texas.
Who Gives A Hoot? 