Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on April 22, 1996. The photo is from July 2000.
If coach Bob Houghton’s plan to get his best player more involved in the action had worked any better, Marcelo Balboa might have been in a shooting gallery yesterday at Mile High Stadium.
As it was, Balboa scored two goals and the Colorado Rapids took over in the second half for a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Burn.
Balboa’s first goal, in the second minute of the second half, brought the crowd of 21,711 to life. It also triggered a 16-minute offensive explosion that by soccer standards would equate to an eight-run inning by the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
“I like to go forward. I like to score goals,” Balboa said. “This gives me an opportunity to get into the box more and have some more shots on goal.”
Balboa played his first game for the Rapids in their Major League Soccer home opener and he showed exactly why Houghton called him “the best American player out there.”
After just two practice sessions at defensive midfielder, Balboa played like he was meant for the position. He had been playing sweeper over the last few years, a position that usually would have kept him from the point of attack.
“The change paid off for us today,” Houghton said. “Not only did he score two, but he had two other great chances to score. He’s going to be a valuable asset for us in the middle to score goals.”
While Balboa took scoring honors, it was the field play of forward Jean Harbor that got things going. Harbor assisted on the first two goals, working the Dallas defense to perfection.
“Our front players came alive today,” Houghton said.
While Harbor collected the assists, fellow forward Shaun Bartlett scored in the 57th minute as the Rapids took a 2-0 lead.
“The goals make such a difference in a game,” Houghton said. “The momentum swings so much in your favor when you score the first goal.”
Midfielder Chris Henderson could see the momentum swing.
“When you score, the other team needs to attack more,” Henderson said. “That opens up more space. The key was that we scored early in the second half. As soon as we scored, the game opened up and that made it pretty entertaining for the fans.”
Harbor not only helped build the momentum, he also solved the wind that swirled in the stadium, the same elements that Denver Broncos fans know so well from watching field-goal tries blown away.
“In the second half, I didn’t put the ball up,” Harbor said. “I kept the ball on my foot because I thought I could move quicker than their defenders. I saw Balboa go inside, so I gave him the ball.”
Balboa said the wind took the ball out of reach at times.
“We decided to keep the ball on the ground in the second half,” Balboa said. “We learned we couldn’t keep the ball in the air. Jean would attract two people, leaving me open in the middle.”
The Rapids played a solid game overall. Dallas shooters didn’t get a shot on goal in the first half and Rapids goalie Dusty Hudock faced only five on-target shots in the game. One was a header by forward John Kerr in the 59th minute that caught Hudock out of the goal.
“That’s good for us,” defender Matt Kmosko said. “We were really packing it in and playing good defense. We did a good job getting back behind the ball.”
Hudock didn’t mind the obscurity.
“We played a very solid defensively,” Hudock said, adding that the four players in front of him made “my job easy and I like that.”
