‘Rafa deserves to be playing’: Republic FC coach affirms belief in starting goalkeeper

Republic FC goalkeeper Rafael Díaz has been given a golden opportunity to be the full-time starter after Adam Grinwis suffered a torn ACL and medial meniscus last week.

Grinwis started the club’s first four games of the season and recorded a shutout win against Reno 1868 FC last month.

Since Grinwis went down against LA Galaxy ll on July 25, Díaz has started all three games – and has three clean sheets. Díaz started six games for Sacramento last season. With Grinwis out for the foreseeable future, it’s Díaz’s time to shine.

Republic FC coach Mark Briggs firmly believes Díaz has earned the opportunity to play and isn’t just playing because of Grinwis’ injury.

“It’s a little unfair to for people to be saying Adam is a starter, Rafa is the starter or whatever it may be because ultimately, we signed two goalkeepers that are both able and are both willing,” Republic FC coach Mark Briggs said. “Adam got the nod at the start (of the season), but (Rafa) has been in a different class at training. He’s been banging on my door and he’s been making me think he needs to play.

“Fortunately for him, sometimes in life and in this game, you get opportunities. He got an opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands. I think, yes, it’s really unfortunate what happened to Adam with his injury, but Adam was on the bench two games before and (Rafa) still started. So credit where credit is due. Rafa deserves to be playing. We had two goalkeepers that are competing and we have two goalkeepers that could be No. 1.”

Briggs has been impressed with Díaz’s presence in goal. His ability to calm his defense down has contributed significantly to Republic FC keeping three consecutive opponents off the scoreboard.

“The players in front of you feel that calmness and feel the confidence that either comes from your play or from being vocal,” Díaz said. “It gives them confidence that they have someone behind them that’s confident, calm and ready to act when called upon.

“I’m just taking it one game at a time. When the opportunity came to play, I prepared myself through the year by training and making sure I stayed ready. It’s a collective group ... with the mindset of not giving up goals. Hopefully, we can continue with that.”

Díaz and Grinwis have competed at practice since the season began earlier this year. They have pushed each other to get better, but also have formed a strong friendship off the field.

“I think we just work really well together,” Díaz said. “We compete and are good friends. I feel like I can talk to him about anything, he can talk to me about anything. We have a really nice competitive nature. When it was in his time to play, I was supporting him and was chirping in his ear. It’s likewise the other way around. It’s good to have that competition on this team because it does bring the best out of you.”

Could defense lead to more scoring?

Since Republic FC opened the rebooted United Soccer League season on July 13 against Tacoma Defiance with a 3-3 draw, the team has scored just three goals in five games.

Briggs believes the lack of goals could change Saturday night against Tacoma and has been good at making predictions all season.

After the team blew a 3-1 second-half lead against Tacoma, Briggs said he wanted to see a 1-0 win against Reno. He got that.

After concerns were raised at the club’s training last week about the lack of goals, Briggs said, “We will get a goal (eventually) off someone’s back or someone’s shoulder. The rub of the green will change and every (goal) after that will start flying in. That’s what I truly believe.”

He was right about that, too. Republic FC’s only goal against Portland Timbers 2 was credited as an own goal after Cameron Iwasa’s header hit the crossbar, bounced back and redirected into the goal off the head of Timbers goalkeeper Jake Leeker.

Questions were raised again this week about the team’s inability to score and capitalize on scoring opportunities. Briggs isn’t worried. Instead, he’s encouraged by the team’s defensive effort and thinks Saturday could be the day where an offensive explosion happens.

“Rafa said it best, the mentality in the group regarding not conceding goals and keeping a clean sheet has been great,” Briggs said. “I think the goals will come and we will have a little bit of luck and fortune. I’ve got no worries or no issues with that. I trust the players and I trust what we have right now. If we keep clean sheets and then start to convert our chances into goals, we’re gonna be a hard team to beat.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 4:00 AM.