Penn soccer standout working toward professional dreams

Christian Barreiro was younger, smaller and less accomplished than just about everyone on the opposing team.

That didn’t matter.

This past Tuesday evening, Barreiro, a rising senior at Penn, and his teammates on Reading United A.C. hosted Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union in an exhibition soccer match at Don Thomas Stadium.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, and Barreiro – all 5-foot-7 of him – was the maestro in the midfield, generating good scoring chances with free kicks, through balls and crosses for Reading United A.C., which is a part of the USL Premier Development League, a top-level amateur soccer league designed to give experience and exposure to the country’s best college players during the summer months.

Barreiro is getting plenty of that – and turning some heads along the way.

“He’s been one of our most consistent players,” said Reading head coach Brendan Burke, who’s also a part of the Union staff. “I’ve been raving about him to anyone that will listen. He’s quick on the ball and off the ball, and has a feisty steak in him that’s unparalleled. He keeps working and it pays of.

“He’ll be a pro – it’s just a question of where.”

Barreiro on the ball with the Union's Gabriel Farfan behind him (Bob McClennan/Reading United)

Barreiro dribbles as Union veteran Brian Carroll looks on (Bob McClennan/Reading United)

Like most players in the PDL, Barreiro’s goal is to keep up his fitness level, learn the game alongside other elite college players and boost his chances of playing professional soccer after graduation. Perhaps the best part of Reading United is that it’s essentially run like a professional club. They have practices every day, games all over (they had one in Bermuda last week, for instance), pregame meals, great gear, plenty of sponsors and a solid fan base in Reading.

Oh, and they’re good too. The team, which is a minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Union, is currently undefeated and in first place in their division.

“We have a lot of great guys from a lot of great schools,” Barreiro said following Reading’s 1-1 draw with the Union. “You can tell with the environment here – people wanted to come see the Union but people also wanted to come see Reading.”

It’s certainly been a grind for Barreiro, who stays in a hotel room at the Inn at Reading about four nights a week (the rest of the time he stays on Penn’s campus or at his parents’ house in Baltimore) to keep up with the grueling schedule. But he knows that if he wants to be a pro some day, he has to act like one.

“It’s a dream,” Barreiro said about being a professional. “Everybody on Reading is capable of doing things at the next level. In our players’ meeting at the beginning of the year, we set a team goal to have at least six players go in the [MLS] draft next year.”

Of course, before that time comes, Barreiro still has things to accomplish at Penn. Already one of the program’s most reliable players – he’s started all but two games since arriving on campus in 2008 – the reigning first-team All-Ivy midfielder hopes to lead the ever-improving Quakers to their third NCAA tournament in four years next fall.

Last season Barreiro – who before coming to Penn had youth offers from top-level European clubs – notched a team-leading seven assists to help the Quakers march to the second round at NCAAs.

“As [Penn coach Rudy Fuller] likes to say, leaders pick themselves,” Barreiro said. “Guys with more experience tend to lead the team, so hopefully I can fill those shoes. It’s a great time for all of us at Penn. Hopefully with work we can expand our presence nationally. We’ve done that in the past couple of years, and hopefully we can continue to do that.”

Expanding nationally, after all, is something Barreiro knows a little bit about.