HOUSTON â Alejandro Fuenmayor had a crowd of reporters around him after the Houston Dynamoâs 3-1 win over New York City FC on Friday night, a match in which the Venezuelan center back netted the Dynamoâs first goal of the game and his second of the season.
âYou scored one goal and you think youâre the star of the team now or what?â four-time World Cup veteran DaMarcus Beasley yelled from across the room in Spanish.
Adolfo Machado â the Panamanian whoâs likely heading to his first World Cup this summer and is often paired with Fuenmayor in the Dynamo backline â joined Beasley in teasing Fuenmayor. Machado proceeded to join the crowd of reporters and began asking the Venezuelan a question before retreating in laughter.
It was a short back and forth between Fuenmayor and his teammates, but one that speaks to how fast the 21-year-old has entrenched himself on a Dynamo defense that includes veterans like Beasley and Machado.
Of the Dynamoâs 11 games this season, Fuenmayor has started seven of them and been in the starting lineup for the past five. In two of those starts, the young center back has gone up against world-class strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa, and held his own.
âWorking hard day in and day out and giving 100 percent to win my spot,â Fuenmayor said of his efforts to become a starter. âThere are great defenders on this team and I need to stay playing at a high level to keep playing.â
Fuenmayor also has two goals in eight appearances with Houston, matching his career total in 71 games with Carabobo FC, his previous club in Venezuela.
âHeâs showing that age is just a number,â Dynamo head coach Wilmer Cabrera said. âHe has a good mentality and is a professional. Heâs adapting [to MLS] and right now heâs one of our most important players on the team.â
Dynamo midfielder Juan David Cabezas echoed his coachâs sentiments on Fuenmayor, adding that the defender plays as if heâs had plenty of high-level action.
As a goalkeeper, Joe Willis has a closer view of Fuenmayor than most others on the field, and he said whatâs impressed him most about the 21-year-old is his vision to pick off passes.
âHe reads the game very well and able to track runners,â Willis said. âHeâs fearless out there.â
Aside from tracking runners, Willis said Fuenmayor has a great sense of positioning.
âHe has a mentality that heâs not going to let you beat him,â Willis said. âHeâs come up with some big interceptions and some big tackles and big goal-line clearances for us and been a big part of our success this year.â