Advertisement

Ramiro Funes Mori, from reality star to River Plate.

High School coach Jeff Waldrop still remembers the first time he saw the Funes Mori brothers arrive to his high school practice field.

“He was about 5ft 5 and 120 lbs,” Waldrop said of Ramiro. “They were young and they were tiny but they definitely had an outlandish amount of talent compared to all the other freshmen I had.”

It was by fortune that the brothers had ended up in Waldrop’s presence at Arlington High School in Texas, after their parents decided to move to the United States in 2001 in search of a better life.

Instantly slotting them into his team, Waldrop surprisingly did not choose to use Ramiro in the position he now plays. “For me he was a defensive centre midfielder,” he explained. “He could do that and score goals. He was doing all the hard work in the middle. Starting the counter attack he could be offensive minded if he wanted to be.”

From that position he was integral to their success. During the 2008 season he recorded 14 goals and 17 assists as the team recorded an astonishing twelve victories from thirteen games. A central component to that side, Waldrop is eager to point out that Ramiro was more than just talent. “It was the work ethic too,” he said. “We’d finish a two hour drill and we’d head inside and he’d go back out there with his father and work on even more things.

“They would want to borrow the free-kick dummies so they could work on that after practice. Their dad always wanted to work on something a little bit extra and they didn’t ever complain about it.”

Then during 2008, a number of Waldrop’s players – including the brothers – entered a reality show known as ‘Sueno MLS’.

A contest organised by Major League Soccer, it was intended to give young players a place at an MLS academy - in this case FC Dallas. As many of Waldrop’s players fell by the way-side, the brothers remained. Both made it to the final of the competition with Rogelio ultimately placing first.

Although Rogelio took the plaudits and the trophy, both had caught the eye of the coaches at FC Dallas. “We saw character and talent there with that left foot,” Oscar Pareja, current head coach of FC Dallas explained. “He dominated the category very well. The size of him was something we liked very well and the intensity he had during games and training. We didn’t doubt he could be a professional.”

Pareja was eager to extend their stay at the club, but unfortunately ran into problems. “At the time our system here was not as mature as it is right now and we couldn’t hold them,” he said. “We had to decide whether to sign these kids to the first team or not. We didn’t have a second division team or a structure that could hold them and then we had to let them go.”

Rogelio had previously been linked with a trial at Chelsea and upon hearing of similar interest back home from River Plate, the family returned to their native Argentina. Impressing the coaches at the club’s academy they were both signed by River towards the end of 2008.

Patience would be the order of the day from there for Ramiro. Three years in the club’s academy was the precursor to making his debut in 2011 during what was an incredibly difficult period for the club. The country’s most successful team, River’s proud history was cast alongside a devastating relegation to the second division or B-league.

River spent just one season in the second tier, but it proved an arduous campaign. They were a significant scalp to teams playing in stadiums that were difficult venues to visit and often of poor quality. Eventually, the earned promotion back to the top league, winning the B and. Completing a dramatic and somewhat cathartic turn-around they then won the top league in 2014.

By this stage Ramiro was starting to establish himself in the team, making 19 appearances during their promotion season, he would record at least double figures in appearances every season until his departure. Yet despite their success on the field that did not stop him enduring a testing relationship with the club’s passionate fans. Guilty by association, the poor form of brother Rogelio in front of goal also had implications for Ramiro.

However any ill will was quickly forgotten when Ramiro netted the winner against fierce rivals Boca Juniors in March 2014 - their first win at Boca’s La Bombonera for 10 years. It could easily be argued his time at River has been defined by two important headers. One against Boca and one just weeks ago in the Copa Libertadores final against Tigres of Mexico in a 3-0 win.

Overall 2015 has proven a successful year so far for Funes Mori, as he maintained his place amid a challenge from Eder Alvarez Balanta, a highly rated Colombian defender. Add to that Libertadores winners medal and his first cap for Argentina. A member of the 30 man preliminary Copa America squad, he was eventually left out of the final selection. A disappointing moment the 24-year-old will have been buoyed by the news that Gerardo Martino recently recalled him to the squad and called him ’ the future of the national team’ during an interview with ESPN radio.

Now he prepares for another challenge in the Premier League with Everton, although he has not forgotten his beginnings as he will still exchange messages with former coach Waldrop on Facebook. A unique journey, from the humble fields of Texas to the bright lights of a reality show, he graduates now to a new even grander stage that is the Barclay’s Premier League.