Oh, what a home debut for Houston Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron.
On the brink of Houston's first-ever home loss to FC Dallas, the rookie who played collegiately at Rhode Island making his MLS appearance, took a pass from Brian Ching, settled the ball ever so perfectly and saved a point for the Dynamo with a rocket just under the crossbar in stoppage time.
In front of the rowdy Dynamo faithful at Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston, Cameron was the season's first hero. And instead of starting the year with two consecutive losses, the Dynamo saved a point Sunday and Cameron was the center of some much-deserved attention.
"To me, it is a privilege to play with these guys and I just wanted to make the most of my first career start," Cameron said. "For me the important thing is not getting into the lineup, it is staying there.
"This team has a lot of really great players and I know that will push me to work harder in training or out there in the games."
From the moment he walked on the field as a member of the Dynamo, Cameron said he's enjoyed being a member of a championship caliber team. The things he said he can learn from a group of players that have accomplished so much will help him through the growing pains of being a rookie.
Cameron is not star-struck, but he does realize how hard he will have to work to reach the star status of those around him.
"For me, it was such a great experience coming into the locker room and seeing the name plates of all these great players," Cameron said. "But I don't want it to end there. I know I can play better, I know I can play at their level and I want to work up and play on the national team.
"Right now, for me, it's about working hard, working my butt off and not being satisfied with where I am. I want more games, more starts, more goals and more assists."
Ching, who scored four goals in the Dynamo's first ever game in 2006, said he had fun playing with the 22-year old rookie.
"I can't say enough about the guy right now," Ching said. "He is going to be a tremendous talent in this league and hopefully, he will make the national team one day. But it is a great start for him, and this will do a lot for his level of confidence.
"We are definitely going to need him this year with the number of games that we have. To me, he is the man of the match and to be the man of the match, in your first-ever MLS game, that says something about the talent that you possess."
After Sunday's match, head coach Dominic Kinnear said before the season he told all his players that, although they might not know it yet, they will be called upon to provide a major role this season. That instance turned out to be Sunday for Cameron and he made the most of it with time running out on the desperate hosts.
"We had a big crowd out there today and that can be a bit intimidating for a young player," Kinnear said. "I told him before the game -- and he had a very good preseason -- that he was going to get the start and that we were going to put him out there because we have confidence in him.
"With the goal his scored, I think he had a really good first game and he looked comfortable stepping on the field (Sunday)."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
