Jamal Thiaré turned 31 years old on Sunday. While birthdays may be a momentous occasion for some, that’s not been the case for the Senegal native.
Scoring two goals on your birthday, though? That’s cause for celebration, and then some.
“I’m a person that constantly stays in their own bubble and does their own thing [so] it was awesome that it happened to be my birthday today, and on top of that to score,” the striker said through a translator following a brace — the first just seconds after coming off the bench as a 64th-minute substitute — against Chicago Fire FC in a 3-0 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Thiaré’s star turn was made possible in less-than-ideal circumstances: Giorgos Giakoumakis, who opened the scoring just before 1st-half stoppage time, came off injured.
With 25 minutes remaining, Thiaré doubled the scoring by heading a perfectly placed Brooks Lennon cross past Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady for his first MLS goal, mirroring the outside back-to-striker connection Lennon and Giakoumakis have been known for.
Backup striker has been a sore subject for Atlanta with Miguel Berry, Ronaldo Cisneros, and Cubo Torres among the players it signed to relieve its primary No. 9, only to receive little to no return. Another potential backup, Jackson Conway, enjoyed success coming through Atlanta’s academy and with ATL UTD 2 in the USL Championship, but never affected the first team consistently.) In fact, the argument could be made that not since Tito Villalba’s double-digit goal season in place of an injured Josef Martinez in 2017 has the club found a solution there.
Thiaré’s breakthrough on Sunday, though, certainly fueled the confidence of Gonzalo Pineda, who mentioned the potential of utilizing both him and Giakoumakis in a dual-striker system if needed.
“I think is the first time that we feel that we have two guys that are able to score goals at any moment, and that’s great to have,” Gonzalo Pineda said, calling Thiaré’s goal on his first touch an “amazing story”.
As for the reserved Thiaré, who said his celebration after his second goal was a tribute to Edinson Cavani, the focus is letting his play on the field do most of the talking.
“I trust myself, I’m confident in myself. I know that the coach trusts me as well and so do my teammates,” he said. “In the end, it’s just about doing my job, and [that] is what I did today.”
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All Atlanta United strikers I can remember, rated as “flop”, “good enough”, or “all star”:
All star: Josef, Giako
Good enough: Tito? (Ik he was mainly a winger), Dwyer, Vasquez, Jamal, Lopez (older, retired for family, put him here for small sample size)
Flop: Cubo, Jahn, Conway, E. Lopez, Berry, JJ Williams, probably anyone else I forgot.
We’re not very good at picking non-DP strikers, so I’ll take Thiare as a massive success if he keeps playing how he has and occasionally contributes a goal or two like Sunday
Yeah, in trying to figure out who the best backup striker in team history was, I guess it would have to be Tito. Vazquez wasn’t very consistent. Dwyer had a lot of energy and looked good, but he did only score 4 goals. By comparison to backup forwards before him, Dwyer looked like a Golden Boot candidate.
Speaking of Tito, I have no idea what is going on with him. I can’t find any evidence he is playing this year and I can’t find any evidence of an injury. He played well last year though.
Happy Belated Birthday to Jamal and best wishes for the rest of the season!