Jamiro Monteiro had to wait, and Union fans had to wait too. After arriving on a short-term loan from FC Metz -- with an option to extend the loan and or make the move permanent -- Monteiro trained with his new team, showing off a broad range of skills that had Jim Curtin suggesting the Dutch-born Cape Verde international could play anywhere in his midfield diamond.
But when the March 23 match against Columbus rolled around, Monteiro's International Transfer Certificate had not cleared, and he was unavailable when the Union roster was depleted.
The wait continued.
"You always want to play a game," Monteiro said this week. "It's not like training, you're playing against a team you don't know -- in training, you know how most guys play."
That's why last weekend, when the wait finally ended, Monteiro was thrilled.
He found out on Friday that he was in the matchday 18 and finally got the call to enter the pitch in the final 19 minutes of the game.
"It was a great feeling to get on the pitch and get minutes. And I was waiting for one month for everything so when it finally happened!" he enthused. "[Jim Curtin] just told me to play my game. I entered with the score 2-0 so he said I need to be careful about losing the ball; just play simple and defend well."
Now that he has a taste of MLS action, Monteiro is hungry for a full 90.
"I want to show myself more," he says of his future plans. "Twenty minutes is good, but I want to play 90 minutes!
"Every minute that I get, I'll fight for those minutes. I'll do everything to be important for the team."
Over the course of the long MLS season, Monteiro will certainly have chances to be important, and he's clearly ready to make the most of them. The diminutive midfielder showed in his debut that he's not afraid of a tackle, and his closing speed was particularly impressive. As he continues to get back up to game speed, Union fans will get to see why Metz shelled out a hefty sum for him just a year ago.
Monteiro and the Union return to action on Saturday when they welcome FC Dallas to Talen Energy Stadium.
