A genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car striker controversy
Marcus Caldeira keeps making things happen.... and now, he's given the MNUFC coaching staff something to think about.
Who's starting at striker for Minnesota United on Wednesday?
Quarterbacks in football and goaltenders in hockey stand apart, but the center-forward position is probably as close as you're going to get to that level of controversy, in soccer - especially given the modern tendency to play with one single forward. Many, many things go into making a successful soccer team, but at some point, you need a dude(tte) up front to put the ball in the net.
It already looked like the Loons had a controversy of their own brewing, with young Mamadou Dieng stealing a spot in the starting lineup from Kelvin Yeboah, one of the two designated players on the Minnesota roster. But now along comes Marcus Caldeira, the draftee who's been banging in goals for MNUFC2, to tally three assists in the last two games in a total of about 30 minutes.
Not to over-emphasize this, but that's one more assist than the combined total of Dieng (zero goals or assists for the Loons) and Yeboah (two assists, none since the 2024 playoffs) in their entire Minnesota careers.
