It was a modern phenomenon befitting a very modern player.Within minutes of converting a penalty kick against Chile in the U.S. national team's Jan. 22 friendly outside Los Angeles, Teal Bunbury had gone viral.
He had his composure from 12 yards and Telefutura announcer Pablo Ram�rez to thank. Bunbury, normally rather reserved, celebrated his first international goal with a little dance near the corner flag.
That's when Ram�rez' impromptu Black Eyed Peas-inspired call transformed a mundane penalty into an iconic moment, a forgettable friendly into a celebration and "Boonbooree" into both a trending topic and a t-shirt.
The player was among the last to find out about it.
"One of my buddies sent me a text and let me know about it," he told FanHouse about the "Boonbooree" call. "A couple of days days after the game I went online and listened to it for the first time. It was kind of shocking."
Ram�rez sealed the game's place in American soccer lore, but Bunbury did an awful lot to bring it to life. It was lurching along at a dreary pace when U.S. coach Bob Bradley inserted both the Sporting Kansas City forward and the New York Red Bulls' Juan Agudelo at the hour mark.
The pair (combined age, 38) added an obvious spark, attacking fast and fearlessly. Chile was on its heels, and Agudelo earned the penalty when he was brought down following a give-and-go with Alejandro Bedoya. Bunbury, sensing his moment had arrived, convinced the player he considered "my little brother throughout the whole camp" to relinquish his claim on the kick.
"Eventually he let me take it," Bunbury said.
What followed vaulted the 20-year-old into the country's soccer conversation, both the kind limited to 140 feverish characters and the more thoughtful part addressing the future of the American striker. Currently, the only reliable American goal scorer is playing for Italy, and while Jozy Altidore remains in the picture, the position remains up for grabs.
That prospect undoubtedly fueled the "Boonbooree" excitement. U.S. fans are hungry for a forward who can make things happen, and Bunbury appears to have that knack. It's a knack resulting from a combination of factors that leave him almost perfectly positioned to make an impact on the modern game. Bunbury is, in his own way, an embodiment of the growth of American soccer. He is a player for the next generation.
It starts with his roots. Although Bunbury's example is extreme, it's part of a growing and auspicious trend. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to be raised by a pro, but more and more American players will grow up surrounded by family, friends and coaches who know the game. Partly because of its increased popularity, partly because of our shrinking world and partly because those who grew up with soccer in the 1970s and early '80s now are having kids of their own, the number of players with early and knowledgeable soccer influences is surging.
"The landscape of youth soccer has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. It's not pockets of the United States. It's really consistent throughout the country," Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes told this website.
Eleven years ago, Vermes was a teammate of Alex Bunbury on the Kansas City side that won the 2000 MLS Cup. The elder Bunbury was born in Guyana and moved to Quebec as a child. By the time Teal came along in 1990, his father was a four-year veteran of the Canadian national team. Alex would play professionally in England, Portugal and the U.S. His son would grow up with a love, appreciation and affinity for the sport, and with a father who pushed him to excel.
"It felt like every little thing I did in training he would critique," Bunbury told The Shin Guardian in January. "Obviously my teammates were there but it seemed like he was always singling me out for everything. If I had one bad touch he was on my case ... which isn't a bad thing though. It prepared me for my career."
Bunbury is a modern player in body, as well as at his foundation. He is not the kid of a dozen years ago, who settled for the soccer team because he was too small for football. At 6-feet-2, 175 pounds, he is big yet lean, strong enough to hold off defenders and win the ball, but quick and skillful enough to run at the opposition and create.
"He's sort of at the next level. In some respect, this guy's the prototypical wide receiver," Vermes told FanHouse. "You start talking about certain guys just because of their body makeup, and he has a lot of qualities that are very interesting for that (forward) position -- his size, his speed, the technical ability."
Bunbury scored 17 goals in his second and final season at the University of Akron, and tallied five in his rookie campaign in Kansas City last year (his first MLS goal is below). Vermes can use him in a variety of attacking positions, both leading the line and playing behind the strikers.
His transition from club and high school ball to Akron, from Akron to MLS and from MLS to the national team has appeared almost seamless. Bunbury even felt comfortable during a practice stint with English Premier League club Stoke City in December, scoring in a reserve team match.
The modern player is confident yet humble. He's comfortable with a ball and can anticipate the demands of each subsequent level. He has the skill, the long-term vision and the temperament to succeed.
"You attribute that to his professionalism at a very young age," Vermes said. "He's an extremely mature kid. He has a great work ethic. He comes to training every day to be the best, and it's just inside him. He's always realistic. Sometimes, athletes -- we've all been there -- what happens is you wind up being a little bit unrealistic, a little delusional when you do a little self evaluation.
"He's not that way at all. He's 100 percent a very good evaluator of his performance. That really helps his development. He can move on and build and work on certain aspects of his game. You can talk about it and he'll pay attention. You can spend time after practice working on different aspects.
"Because of that you can really indoctrinate yourself not only into a team, but into another level because people are willing to work with you and give you the benefit of the opportunities that are out there. He's just taking advantage of it."
Bunbury said the biggest jump was from college to Kansas City. "The speed of play was my biggest thing to adjust to, but granted, I think I adjusted to it quickly," he told FanHouse.
As far as getting comfortable with the national team, he credited Bradley's candor and renowned attention to detail for helping him plot his path.
"He's very meticulous. He's really clear on details and things like that," Bunbury said. "He's just always really, the few times I've been in camps and stuff, just trying to keep me grounded, give me things to work on. I still have a lot to learn and he's always trying to focus on different things to help me improve my game as much as possible."
Such as?
"He just wanted me personally to work on my opening runs, giving myself an extra yard from the defender and get the ball facing the goal, was his biggest thing, He wanted me to work on just keeping my head up and just staying focused."
They'll have grown up with professional coaching in the youth and college ranks and a viable and competitive domestic league. They'll be monitored by an ambitious and well-organized national team program (or two) committed to player identification, and they'll benefit from the trailblazers who ensured that the American player will be considered and respected abroad.
It's the start of a virtuous circle that, hopefully, will produce players more athletic and more mature than their predecessors, and more moments like the one at the Home Depot Center.
That road also will have forks, and those options present a different kind of pressure. New clubs will come calling, and many players will be eligible for more than one passport.
Bunbury's first foray into the headlines came last November, when he accepted Bradley's invitation to join the senior side for the friendly against South Africa. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Bunbury had followed in his father's footsteps and played for Canada's under-17 and under-20 teams.
Then Bradley called, and offered him the chance to make his own name for a team that had qualified for six consecutive World Cups.
According to Vermes, it was not a very tough decision.
"I felt as if he was leaning toward the United States, and at the same time he also wanted to respect the fact this his dad played for Canada," the coach told FanHouse. "He realized that he's got to live his own professional career, and I think he realized that a lot of the things he wants to achieve can lie with the United states team. It wasn't a selfish thing on his part at all. He just wanted to give himself the opportunity to play in the best competition he could."
Those offended by Bunbury's switch may have missed to important elements. The first was that Teal left Canada at the age of two, when his father signed with West Ham. When he returned to North America eight years later, the family settled in Minnesota. It was there that Bunbury went to high school. It was there where he began to feel American.
The second was that by playing for his adopted country, he did follow in his father's footsteps. Alex sought greater opportunity in Canada, and his son would do the same in the U.S.
"He's got my back 100 percent no matter what decision I would have made. He's happy with whatever decision I make. It was the right one, and I wanted to make it. He didn't want to pressure me," Bunbury said.
He addressed it like an adult. He addressed it with mature perspective.
"The fans and the media kind of blow it out of proportion and get carried away with it. Ultimately it's the player's decision on his future," he told FanHouse, shortly after the conclusion of the European transfer window featured scenes of Liverpool fans burning their Fernando Torres jerseys.
Torres was purchased for millions from Atl�tico Madrid and sold for millions to Chelsea. Bunbury argued that in the business of modern soccer, loyalty is far more nuanced.
"Obviously every player is going to try and stay as loyal as possible, but when it comes down to it you have to provide for your family and do what's best for you in your professional career. But that's the day and age we're in now and people are just exploiting things differently," he said.
"People are entitled to their opinions and their decisions. I guess I have to deal with it. I'm very honored and blessed with the decision I made and the opportunities I've been given, and I'm going to just continue to do what I can to make myself a better person on and off the field. I can't really please everybody."
Bunbury wants to play in Europe. It's been a dream of his since he followed his father there. But he knows that will come if he makes good on his commitment to Kansas City. It's a club that, thanks to a new stadium and rising profile, will provide a legitimate platform for him to showcase his abilities.
It's a city where he's already been embraced. A Sporting spokesman said that Bunbury has never refused a media request and has, along with good friend Kei Kamara, set an admirable standard for his interaction with fans on Twitter.
Those fans responded with their designs for the "Boonbooree" t-shirt that the club has been selling on its website. In about two weeks, Bunbury had progressed from national team camp hopeful to meme to fashion statement. It's a modern story about a player equipped to shape it. It's a story that's just beginning.
"I'm a bit more reserved, but I think it's good, bringing more attention to Sporting Kansas City, having a little contest with the shirt," he said. "I'm grateful and very humbled by it. I'm not a guy to go out and promote myself and things like that. I'm very honored that people have taken the time."
At this rate, Bunbury will continue to attract attention. There certainly is no guarantee of success, as the news that he may have dislocated his elbow in a Tuesday scrimmage attests. But there is no question that he possesses the tools required. He is at the vanguard of what could be a profound change in the way American soccer players are forged and followed.
"For right now I'm really happy with where I'm at," he said. "But I'm always looking forward."
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