January 14, 2021 – Atlanta, GA –
Atlanta’s very own soccer club, Atlanta Ginga, has been nothing but dominant this fall season as they are 16-0 in the regular season. Only 4 out of the 14 matches were close contests and they led in all but 1 statistical category in their conference, and from players to staff they have been hitting on all cylinders. So what has made them so perfect this season? Is it their offense, defense, coaching? From what the statistics show, and even the naked eye, all of these aspects are the reason for their success.
No one has been more effective than Ginga’s goalie, Alberto Ciroi, and striker Deon McCaulay. Alberto Ciroi has had a season that will go down in the history books, as he is the only goalie in league history to win two player of the week awards. Just last month, he earned his second POTW with an outstanding 5 saves to win the Georgia Championship. No doubt that Ciroi is the heart and soul of this Ginga defense. Switching over to the offensive end, Deon McCaulay has been scoring at will with his golden leg. He has earned the 3rd spot in the top goal scorers in the regular season with 20 and including 3 straight matches with a hattrick; It does not get any more impressive than that. McCaulay will be heading into the playoffs as a huge offensive threat, and Ginga will be looking at many different defensive schemes to try and shut their star striker down.
Even though this club can contribute a lot of its success to its players, it all came together because of its coaching staff; And most importantly the head coach. Head Coach João Garcia was named as UPSL Coach Of The Year, which is the most important award that a coach can win. His run-and-gun offense and pressure defense is what led them to have an undefeated season as well as helped Ginga Atlanta dominate in all but 1 of the 4 primary statistical categories. No one else had more of an impressive season then Coach Garcia, but he still manages to stay humble, as on Instagram he contributes his success to his staff and players by saying “We’ve worked very hard to be able to finish the regular season with 14 wins in a row.”
This club has an immense amount of pressure on them already by being undefeated, ranked number 1 in the UPSL rankings, and are favorites to win the league championship; But to add on to the pressure the championship will be held at their very own stadium, Silverback Stadium in Atlanta, GA. To be able to compete for a league championship on their own turf has to be something special, but to be able to win it all at home would make it 10 times sweeter. Being home will also prove to be a major advantage for Ginga.
Their first playoff match will be the 16th of this month against AFC 615.
