COMMERCE CITY — Mehdi Ballouchy came roaring back to life seconds before feigning death on a balmy Independence Day evening.
After scoring perhaps the most skillful goal of the Rapids’ 4-0 rout of the New York Red Bulls before a record crowd at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the 25-year-old from Casablanca, Morocco — who was making his first start of the season — simply collapsed in celebration.
“There was so much on my shoulders,” said Ballouchy, who spent his junior year at South High School.
Try being the No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft and lasting less than two seasons at Real Salt Lake before getting traded to your Major League Soccer rival — the Rapids — for fan favorite Kyle Beckerman. Then start this season with a work permit that won’t let you leave the country for preseason training, a high hamstring injury and knowing newly signed veteran Christian Gomez just gave the pecking order at attacking midfielder a big bump.
But the weight lifted off the shoulders of Ballouchy and the Rapids on July 4 is back. And it’s bigger.
After picking up two draws on the road, Colorado (6-10-3) has two shutout losses at home and owns the second-worst record in MLS.
“You could call it a terrible loss,” Ballouchy said of Saturday’s 1-0 howler to a depleted Toronto FC. “Every loss at home is a terrible loss. But what are we going to do, put our heads down? Then we’re only going to get more terrible losses.”
Coach Fernando Clavijo has kept Ballouchy and Gomez in the same lineup, hoping to replicate the offense it first sparked. When the offense is clicking, Ballouchy presents problems with his long runs, distribution and shooting.
“He creates,” Clavijo said. “He has a very good engine. He makes deep runs from the midfield, which make it very complicated for people. Either you follow him through the midfield, or you loosen up someone from the back to mark him.”
But that has been tempered in the recent drought. Ballouchy and others have held good possession during the past two games, but can be seen raising hands to urge stagnate teammates to make a dangerous move.
Ballouchy grew up in North Africa playing soccer on the beach and in the streets where quick passes and cheeky skills are requisite. Although his father played in France for Lille, Ballouchy didn’t play formal games until he was 11. He parlayed his success at SC Chabab Mohammedia and Raja Casablanca into stints with the Moroccan youth national team.
But higher education and soccer are not compatible in Morocco, so he was sent to Denver to be near his brother and live with his uncle, Majid Afiri.
Afiri enrolled the shy teenager at South, where he learned English and scored lots of goals for the Rebels.
“He’d score three or four goals and he’d come home and not talk about it,” Afiri said.
Ballouchy also shined for the Colorado Storm, whose coach, Rafael Amaya, recognized he needed to play somewhere with a higher profile and set him up with a club contact in Palo Alto, Calif.
“Right off the bat you could see how much he loved playing with the ball,” Amaya said.
Creighton won the race for Ballouchy, but he transferred after one season back to the coast and Santa Clara University. He was an All-American and West Coast Conference player of the year his junior season.
Praise followed Ballouchy to Real Salt Lake, where then-coach John Ellinger said “anyone who has seen him play will tell you he has what it takes to become a superstar.”
In July 2007, as the Rapids floundered in a winless streak, Ballouchy was swapped for Beckerman, a player known for his grit, dedication and a breakout 2006 season. It was not a popular move among fans.
“Trust me, it’s not easy,” Ballouchy said. “And I don’t think it was easy for him, either.”
While Beckerman, 26, has been a mainstay for RSL, Ballouchy has been used in bursts. Offensively, however, their numbers since the trade are similar. Beckerman has five goals and two assists in 2,998 minutes, Ballouchy two goals and four assists in 1,176 minutes.
But all the numbers, comparisons and speculation will mean little if Beckerman’s squad makes the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and the Rapids are out for the second straight season.
Ballouchy and the Rapids must come roaring back to life. Very soon.
