Earlier this afternoon, the Burlingame Dragons FC managed a feat that Chile’s national team couldn’t on Monday night—they beat Argentina. Okay, okay, so it was in a 40-minute scrimmage.
But still, the official USL PDL affiliate of the San Jose Earthquakes still pulled ahead a 1-0 victory over the Argentine squad, thanks to forward Jamael Cox. And yes, even Lionel Messi was present .
Argentina faced off against the Dragons in Burlingame to stay loose after last night’s Copa America victory over Chile. “The coach for Argentina set up a 4-3-3, and he said, ‘play your own game, play high energy,” says Cox, and we came out and did pretty well.”
Cox’s own coach tasked him with the little feat of marking, oh, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Erik Lamela. “I was trying not to be star-struck and focus, but it was pretty unreal to play with these guys in real life whose highlight reels you watch on YouTube,” he said. “Those guys are world-class, so it was very difficult.”
Erik Lamela and Jamael Cox; photo courtesy of Jamael Cox
Luckily, though, the Dragons are pretty good with a long ball—and at one point, Cox said, it fell to the team’s outside mid, who played it through to the forward. He then easily slotted it past the ’keeper.
There’s just one thing—the small details of the moment escape him. “I don’t really remember it,” Cox said. “I kind of blacked out when I scored on them.”
