‘I feel like I owe them’: Sacramento Republic FC’s veterans are starting to click
Mark Briggs knows a beautiful pass when he sees one.
In a scoreless tie in the first half against Las Vegas last week, Sacramento Republic FC’s coach watched as Shannon Gomez cruised up the right side of the field and looked at his attackers. Gomez wondered if he should make a deep pass. Dariusz Formella, standing inches behind a Vegas defender, gave him a little wave. Go ahead, I can take this guy.
Gomez laced a perfect pass into the box. True to his word, Formella got in front of the defender and hammered home the first goal.
That’s the kind of connection Republic FC hopes to see more of as they host Orange County on Saturday night. Briggs installed a new strategy this year, and much of it relies on wing backs like Gomez being able to help power the offensive attack.
“What a ball that is,” Briggs said during the game on a hot mic as the ball landed at Formella’s foot.
A foot farther and the goalkeeper might have got to the ball first. A foot shorter and the defender would have had a play. Instead, it was simply a perfect long pass. Not bad for a play that came together in the span of about a second.
“It was a split-second play, that was the connection we had, just a little eye contact and a little motion,” Gomez said. “It was nothing that alerted a defender. (Formella) knew he had an edge.”
After the ball hit the twine, Formella celebrated in his typical, unique fashion. He thumbed his nose in the direction of Republic FC fans, wiggling his fingers and smiling. Formella has a deal with a Polish soccer friend that they have to celebrate goals that way; he clearly delights in sharing the celebration with fans back in the stands.
The goal clearly turned heads in the USL front offices. Both Formella and Gomez were named to the league’s team of the week, which honors the top weekly players.
Briggs just smiled talking about Formella’s goal. He expects to see more of that from the 25-year-old forward.
“Derek is a player who can do special things,” Briggs said. “I’ve got a pretty unique relationship with Derek. I like to push his buttons and get him annoyed, because that’s how you get the best out of him. Derek adds a lot to us. He has that special ingredient to do special things.”
Those opportunities for special things could be more frequent this year. Republic FC’s new system forces players on the wings to cover both ends of the field. The end result, hopefully, is more offense.
So far, so good. Republic FC scored three goals in routing Las Vegas 3-1.
“It’s a very good system, very offensive. We’re going to play offensive football,” Formella said. “And when we defend, we’re very well organized. It’s not easy to get it, but if you get it, it makes your life very much easier.”
Much of the work in the new system falls to wing backs like Gomez.
“I love it. It’s a dream formation,” he said. “It’s one of those formations, when you’re labeled a wing back, this is your time to shine and show what you can do.”
It’s about time.
Gomez is in his fourth season with Republic FC. He was a standout defender in his first two seasons. But a torn ACL and meniscus in 2019 sidelined him. He tentatively returned in 2020, learning to trust his knees and tendons again. It was an arduous path from the operating table to that arcing pass Formella hit home last week.
“I feel like them supporting me every step of the way over the last couple of years, I feel like I owe them, Gomez said. “ You can’t ask for nothing better than that as a player. When we get on the pitch, this is our way of repaying them for what they’ve done for us.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 9:46 AM.