US Open Cup: Here’s how a beloved journeyman lifted Sacramento Republic to new heights
Rodrigo Lopez is something of an unlikely star soccer player.
The Sacramento Republic midfielder is quiet and well-spoken. He’s about 5-foot-8 with his cleats on and 35 years old.
But his play during the team’s improbable US Open Cup run has been youthful and indispensable. RoRo – everybody on the team uses his longstanding nickname – has put the ball in the back of the net in every game in the US Open Cup tournament. The Quails will need yet another outspoken effort from their team captain Wednesday night. Sacramento faces Orlando at 5 p.m. in the US Open Cup final.
The journeyman midfielder has played a lot of soccer. He says he’s touched a ball every day of his life since he was 3 years old. Nothing compares to Wednesday night’s game.
“It’s the biggest game by far that I’ve played in my career,” RoRo said. “... For it to come at the point of my career that it is makes it a lot more enjoyable. Especially with all the adversity in my career, all the struggles, all the times coaches said no to me or let me go. Times like this make it worth it.
“And I want to treat it that way, like it’s the biggest game of my career. We don’t get to live games like this very often. To be doing it now, I’m truly blessed and happy to have this game for my teammates, the coaches and the ownership. Everyone who’s played a role in this truly deserves it.”
Nobody deserves it more than RoRo. In the team’s first game of the tournament, he had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 thumping of the Portland Timbers U-23 team. He had a goal and an assist in each of the next two games. He had the opening goal in a 2-1 win over the L.A. Galaxy in the quarterfinals. And in late July, with a trip to the final on the line, RoRo played 120 hard minutes against Sporting KC; then, as the last man up in penalty kicks, he coolly drilled his shot into the middle of the net to secure Sacramento’s spot in the final.
Not bad for a guy who’s just five years younger than the head coach, Mark Briggs.
“It takes two to tango, so to speak, and we’ve both helped one another and he’s performing at levels that maybe they’re the best in his career,” Briggs said.
Rodrigo Lopez blooms
Being something of a late-bloomer is a theme in RoRo’s career. He was already nine years into his playing days when he started playing with Sacramento Republic in 2014 as the team’s first signee. With a little MLS experience under his belt, playing for Portland, RoRo could have seen a trip to the USL as a downgrade.
Instead, he used it as a springboard. First, he led Sacramento to the USL championship in the team’s first year of existence. His play here eventually earned him a spot with Deportivo Toluca, which plays in the top tier of Mexican soccer.
Now in his third go-round with Sacramento, much of RoRo’s skills remain obvious. He has plenty of quickness to eke out space or jump in front of a ball. He takes nearly every corner kick and penalty shot for the Quails because he always puts the ball in the most dangerous spot possible.
And he has more than a little old-man game. When a faster defender is charging at him, RoRo will slow his pace and get clobbered to draw a foul. Or he’ll take a step back rather than attack the net, getting valuable space between himself and a defender.
None of which is to say he doesn’t belong on the field with guys nearly half his age.
“He has an unbelievable engine,” Briggs said. “First and foremost, people don’t recognize what it takes for a 35-year-old to look after their bodies. Like the amount of sleep he gets, the amount of hydration and fluids he drinks, the right foods, going to get cryotherapy, going to get massages, all these little things that help him perform on a weekend. He does a lot to look after his body and he’s the ultimate professional in that regard, which then allows him to be as fit as he can possibly be, which then allows him to produce the performances that he has produced this year.”
His teammates have certainly noticed.
After re-signing with the team last winter, RoRo easily slid into the role of team captain.
Forward Douglas Martinez smiles as he tells the story of his first introduction to RoRo. He signed with the team in January and went to bed in New York City. Worried that his new signee hadn’t shown up in Sacramento, Briggs had RoRo check on Martinez. When Martinez saw his phone light up with a call from California around midnight, he thought he was in trouble. Nope, just the friendly team captain calling to see how he’s doing.
Martinez and RoRo have become fast friends since the wake-up call. Asked about his captain’s play, Martinez shakes his head softly.
“I don’t know how he does it,” Martinez said. “Some days he doesn’t play (because he has a night off), other days it’s like nothing for him to play. I asked him how he does it, to be 35 years old and still running around like a young guy. He said, ‘I need to run because Roman isn’t growing up by himself.’”
That would be RoRo’s son, Roman, who attends all the home games and is often seen running around Republic practices. RoRo tweeted recently about the medical care Roman is receiving at UC Davis as he deals with aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the heart valve. It’s likely not a fatal condition but RoRo isn’t sure Roman will be able to play on a soccer team of his own.
For now, Sacramento Republic is his team.
“I feel like he’s the little brother on the team,” RoRo said. “Everyone treats him well and they love having him around. He feels like he’s in heaven every time he’s around them. He’s always asking can I miss school and go to practice? He’s just in love with the team.”
Sacramento Love
Roman’s involvement is just part of RoRo’s special attachment to Sacramento. That connection is at least a little odd, as the journeyman midfielder has changed teams 16 times as a professional soccer player, according to transfermarkt.com. His career started in 2005, when many of his teammates were still in diapers or working on their A-B-Cs.
But Sacramento has a special place in his heart, RoRo said, because it’s where he started playing his best soccer in 2014. The special relationship soured in 2020, when Briggs let RoRo leave the team during the offseason. He was forced to relocate to El Paso to play with another USL team, the Rio Grande Toros. When Briggs and general manager Todd Dunivant were interested in bringing him back last winter, there were multiple phone calls as both sides decided if it was a good move.
“I’m not going to lie, I was very upset and hurt when I wasn’t brought back in the 2021 season,” RoRo said. “It hurt not because I wasn’t staying, but having to move my family from Mexico to Sacramento and having to move away to Texas was hard, it’s a hard transition. I made the best of it, God put me there for a reason. God put me in Texas to play and when Mark called me back, I truly respected his honesty and apologizing for how it happened. That goes a long way.”
The move more than worked out for both sides. RoRo and his family say they love Sacramento. He routinely stays late after games to shake hands with fans and chit-chat. And with one more year on his contract, this is home for at least a little while longer. How long? As long as he keeps delivering corner kicks into the middle of the penalty box, he can stay as long as he wants, Briggs said.
Anything could happen for a guy who has moved around as much as RoRo. But it’s clear he would like to play in Sacramento until he can’t play anymore. And maybe, if the stars align, he will provide one more US Open Cup highlight along the way.
“I’ve had experience playing MLS, Mexico, youth national teams. I just felt like I needed this time to embrace all of that, everything I’ve learned in my career,” RoRo said. “I believe I’ve come back to help, to finish my career the right way, whenever that date comes, and to help my teammates and make them better players and make them succeed.”