Ibee Ibrahim is set to start Tuesday's friendly against Independiente. The 16-year-old striker scored on his MLS debut at Chicago Fire on Saturday, and coach John Carver will give him another chance to impress. "He'll start against Independiente. It's a great opportunity for him, and we'll see how he does," said Carver.
"Everybody's excited at what we've seen from him. Of all the players we've got in the club in that position, his movement is the best. He understands when to run and where to run. He gives us a different dimension," explained Carver.
The Toronto coach believes it's important not to expect too much too soon from the young striker. "I've seen young players before and you throw them in and they have an impact straight away, but then they fall by the wayside because they get too much too soon. I'll judge when the time is right for him to come and play but he certainly did himself huge favours on his league debut to get a goal," said Carver.
Ibrahim made his first start for Toronto in the friendly against Pachuca on July 5th when he played for just under an hour. "I have to manage his situation," said Carver. "I wanted to bring him off against Pachuca because he started to drift out of the game physically. Let's not forget he's only 16 and he's playing against top professionals. I've been in situations where I've had a 16 year old go in and stay in the team. Sometimes you have to bring them out, give them a rest, and then put them back in again."
