Men's Soccer

Sergio Camargo making most of only year at Syracuse after struggling at Coastal Carolina

Tony D. Curtis | Staff Photographer

Sergio Camargo has turned his career around after transferring from Coastal Carolina to Syracuse. Although his production has declined, his pro and College Cup aspirations have survived.

After the game finished, after the 15th-ranked team in the country filed out in disgust, after flocks of fans headed to their cars, a few supporters stayed to cheer. They stayed to root for Sergio Camargo, whose last three seasons irked him so much. Now he walked away from SU Soccer Stadium, being showered with love.

The senior transfer from Coastal Carolina’s first-ever goal at Syracuse, also his first collegiate goal since Oct. 14, 2015, came less than an hour earlier. The duality of the moment superseded any lingering distaste from the past. The goal jolted a struggling offense amid its longest winless streak in five years. But for him, it proved to be much more.

He enjoyed the people, the school and the social life at Coastal Carolina. But even as he collected All-Big South Conference honors each year, his relationship with the coaching staff deteriorated. He called it “unhealthy.” Camargo’s professional goals had slowly eroded. In February, after three years of injuries, unsteady performance and a “depressed situation,” he left the team.

Months after splitting from Coastal, Camargo has emerged as a leader for No. 6 Syracuse (10-3-2, 3-2-2 Atlantic Coast). He struggled to execute on his talent established years earlier there. But he has turned away from his rearview to forge toward his future — a likely postseason run with the Orange and a potential professional career.

•••



Before he turned 10, Camargo poured in more than eight goals per game. Opposing parents often asked for him to be taken out. For Camargo, who could roller blade before he could walk, soccer came naturally.

He maximized his ability in Canada, where he played for Toronto’s best teams. His footwork, vision and agility caught the eyes of coaches. The same maturity he’s used to lead Syracuse developed back then.

One day a 14-year-old Camargo dribbled on the sideline during a tournament. About 100 parents watching a nearby game turned their backs to the field, setting their eyes on Camargo, whose ball tricks and juggling skills drew raves.

“Come watch this, come watch this,” the parents yelled.

“The whole tournament stopped to watch what Sergio was doing,” said Filipe Bento, his coach of four years.

Around the same time, Camargo showed up to a tournament championship game feeling a little sick. Bento started his best player anyway. As the game’s end neared and Camargo grew tired, Bento motioned him to come out. Camargo ran toward Bento, shaking his head.

“Don’t you dare take me off this field,” Camargo told him. “I’m not coming off. I’m going to win this game.

“You haven’t seen me yet.”

A couple of minutes later, he scored the game-winning goal.

“I’ve never seen that in any other player,” said Bento, who’s coached Division I and professional players. “It was then that I was convinced things could be decided by one player.”

Camargo flew to Portugal by himself at 15 to play in a tournament. By 18, he had played in the U-17 World Cup in Mexico, on the Canadian U-17 national team (with Chris Nanco) and in a 2012 Toronto FC friendly match against Liverpool where Camargo assisted on a game-winning goal.

Coaches love his flawless mechanics, the efficient pace with which he dribbles, the quickness and the ball skill to pull off flashy moves that are still effective. They laud the midfielder’s combination of intelligence, skill and quality, a rare versatility that allows him to play both in the box and rove midfield.

From the first training session at Toronto FC, coach Stuart Neely saw Camargo’s ability. Before scrimmages, players grew upset if they found out they weren’t on Camargo’s team. In dribbling drills between pylons and manikins, Neely tacked on an extra 10 yards to Camargo’s group to make it fair.

All of his success spurred professional aspirations. Camargo said he “definitely” never considered playing Division I college soccer before he turned 18.

“Even plan B was professional,” his father, Sergio, said. “He never talked about, ‘Are you going to do anything else?’ He doesn’t answer. That’s not possible for him. He doesn’t think about anything else.”

While professional teams signed his teammates, they shunned Camargo. His 5-foot-6, 163-pound frame stood between him and professional soccer. Even after Camargo took a gap year to train with Toronto FC’s first team, scouts passed on him.

He needed a plan B.

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Tony D. Curtis | Staff Photographer

•••

Only a few schools offered Camargo, Syracuse and Coastal included. Rushed after his professional dreams fell short, Camargo signed with Coastal, simply because he knew a few players and liked the warm weather.

Camargo keeps to himself. He shrugs off goals, hardly telling anyone. But his exterior shyness belies an intense inner confidence. Outside of his parents, he never indicated a desire to play professional soccer. His parents just learned about his offer from Syracuse out of high school.

The shyness has subdued, slightly. Camargo hesitates to talk about himself. His mother admits she still “doesn’t really know” what happened at Coastal that forced him to jump ship.

“He just gave us the news he was looking for another team,” said his mother, Nancy Penaranda. “We worried. We were like, ‘What if he doesn’t get his scholarship?’ I don’t know if he doesn’t want us to suffer, but he keeps everything to himself. I don’t know what he wants.”

Camargo didn’t start in Coastal’s final game of 2015, a 2-1 NCAA Tournament loss to North Carolina in which he notched an assist. He scored four goals in the team’s first 11 games but didn’t score in the last 10 due to nagging injuries. The potential coaches recognized from his youth never fully blossomed.

“Injuries were one of the things that decelerated my relationship with coach,” Camargo said. “He didn’t take the injuries well. He didn’t blame me for them but he put a lot of pressure on me to return.”

During winter break last year, Camargo called his parents more frequently and told them he might leave the program. He asked them if, and how, they could pay for college if he didn’t get a full scholarship to Syracuse.

Camargo told Coastal Carolina’s 21-year head coach, Shaun Docking, he wanted to transfer in February. They agreed he could explore other options.

Hours later, Camargo emailed SU head coach Ian McIntyre, expressing interest to join an Orange team only a couple of months removed from its first-ever College Cup appearance.

Still, Camargo expresses mild disgust that it took three years to leave the Chanticleers. He mostly enjoyed the times he thrived. Some players lacked commitment to the team, he said, declining to explain further.

“I was never really happy there. Just sad,” he said. “It got better, but right away from my freshman year, I had a pretty down moment. I tried to fight through it, deal with it. I needed to get out of there.”

Although Camargo didn’t elaborate on the moment, it contributed to his decline. As a freshman forward, he burst into the starting lineup of a 19-5 Big South Championship unit, tallying nine goals, five assists and Big South All-Freshman team honors. But in the next two years, his scoring decreased. He scored six goals in 2014, and then had a four-goal junior year in which he tore a ligament in AC joint, missing seven games.

Camargo followed one guiding principle on his college choice: He wanted to find a place where he could compete for a national title and a place where his talents could garner professional exposure.

Syracuse fit perfectly. Its two leading goal scorers, Julian Buescher and Ben Polk, left for Major League Soccer. Camargo thought he could fit into a starting midfield in need of a playmaker.

Leading up to his decision, Camargo eyed up Syracuse. He followed the team’s Twitter account, texted Nanco regularly and kept the possibility in the back of his mind.

Shortly after he emailed McIntyre, he heard back. The Orange’s head coach asked for his transcripts and, in March, Camargo flew up to campus for a visit. Then he committed.

“I was thinking about it all fall,” he said. “In the spring, I manned up and took a leap of faith.”

•••

Last spring, rumors spread that Camargo would join Syracuse for his senior season. Players who knew him from club soccer — Nanco, Oyvind Alseth and Louis Cross, among others— shared with those who didn’t know about his talents that SU was “getting a really good player.”

Camargo arrived to Syracuse this summer with renewed inspiration. His play in the preseason affirmed McIntyre’s thoughts that he’s a “real player,” and Camargo looked sharp for much of his debut. A healthy preseason positioned him well for a breakout year.

But his ascent began nearly as suddenly as it ended.

The day he broke into the Syracuse offense, he tallied an assist. Later, he received a pass on the right side and gave it a short run. Then he felt something pull. He injured his hamstring in his first game with SU. It was one of the few problems transferring couldn’t solve.

He missed four games. In the games he has played, the hamstring injury loomed. For much of the season, he generated quality chances but missed. Often, he keeled over, putting his hands on his knees in frustration.

His breakthrough came against then-No. 15 Virginia Tech, when he notched his first goal of the season. Offensive drought, stress from his lackluster output and injuries flew past him as he sprinted to a mob of teammates.

Camargo was in such a solemnly competitive trance, before performing his salsa dance.

“That’s the happiest I’ve ever been after a goal,” he said.

Until then, he scored in practice but not in games. The goal affirmed he can flourish. His teammates say he might be the team’s most-skilled player. Still, he doesn’t feel he’s played his best soccer in college.

When Camargo arrived to SU, he told his new teammates he wished he played with them from the start, when Syracuse reached No. 1 in the NSCAA coaches poll and reached the national semifinal. For now, all of that’s behind him as the Orange’s playoff run awaits.

“This is the only year that matters,” he said. “This is the make or break.”





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