By Wendy Pintor
Fabian, who has played at Chivas, Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany and was a fixture with the Mexican national team, and won an Olympic medal in 2012, is now turning his attention toward indoor soccer, signing with the Ontario-based Empire Strykers of the Major Arena Soccer League on a two-year contract.
His contract also includes an option for Fabian to own and operate an MASL team. Which he is also very excited for. Prior to his signing, Fabian recently played with Santa Coloma in Andorra.
“I am excited and can’t wait to become a champion with this new group of guys who are helping me understand the game better with their own experiences, and I am teaching them a little bit of what I have as well and together I know we will do great things this season.” said on Wednesday at his second day at training.
As you all might remember Fabian played in two World Cup teams with Mexico (2014, 2018), led Mexico to the 2012 Olympic Games Gold Medal and played nearly 10 years with Chivas de Guadalajara. (His favorite team) The midfielder also had stops with the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer and three other Mexican clubs (Cruz Azul, FC Juarez, Mazatlan FC). Over the Pandemic he was also in the clear to play with Al Sadd, where he joined thecurrent third-place team in the domestic league of the hosts for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Why #33 we asked him, “why, we’ll this is one of my favorites, in my life I’ve only had three numbers and for me, 33 represents a lot of great things, it also happens to be the number I started my career with and that’s why I chose 33.”
He’s a great addition to the team, he came in so humble, asking everyone questions, he’s been a great fit to the team, after the two losses and the team hearing rumors about him joining, I would say yes, it definitely was a confident booster for the guys, and the entire team, I also think we showed ourselves and the league that we can be very dangerous and explosive team, the timing couldn’t have been better. Added Head Coach Paul Wright after training, Wednesday.
After his traditional soccer experience, Fabian understands he’s going to have pick up the complexities of the indoor game quickly.and with that he’ll have the support of cheerful teammates.
“He’s a legend, and I’m grateful to play alongside him, I’ve played in this league for a while and I haven’t won a championship, on my arrival to this team I said I wanted to win a championship with this team and now all the pieces are coming together and he’s adapting tremendously already. Said Defender Stefan Mijatovic #24
Adding a player of Marco’s caliber, who has had success at so many levels, winning Olympic gold and excelling in the Bundesliga, at the Gold Cup, in the World Cup and in Major League Soccer, will make a significant impact and help us become the best team in this league,” team owner Jeff Burum
After arriving and getting a quick refresher on the rules, Fabian will make his starting debut in MASL debut Friday when the Empire Strykers host the Baltimore Blast at 7:35 p.m. at the Toyota Arena