PHOTO: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES TWITTER
SAN JOSE, Calif. — There’s a good chance Major League Soccer will never sign another Swede like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The same could be said about an MLS club signing another player from Sweden’s second division, as the San Jose Earthquakes did in Swedish-Colombian Joel Qwiberg. One is set to make a glitzy and glamorous debut in a city well suited for the occasion. The other casually made his debut in an international friendly orbiting around Landon Donovan. Zlatan looks to “conquer” the U.S. , while Qwiberg looks to “develop” in the country that has given him the opportunity to play first-division soccer.
“Develop, develop as a player,” Qwiberg told Quakes Epicenter on what he hopes to accomplish in his first year. “I turned 25 just a few months ago, so I’m not coming to the states as a done product. I’m coming here to develop, and I think that’s good for the league because that’s maybe not what it’s known for.”
Qwiberg, who was born in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, and raised in Sweden by adoptive parents, is the epitome of a Swedish product. After bouncing around in Sweden’s third and second division for five years, promotion came with then second-divison side Brommapojkarna in late October. Such a campaign finally granted the fullback a shot in Sweden’s top flight.
Although this wasn’t the case.
Qwiberg believes that on a personal and professional level, growth wasn’t in store for him in Sweden or in Europe, but it is in America. “When I [was] back in Sweden looking through my options, I strongly believed in that this (MLS) is the best option for me to develop on a personal and on a professional soccer level,” he said.
In San Jose, however, the consensus sentiment of Qwiberg’s arrival was that the European-based player was to be an instant fixture in Mikael Stahre’s XI, regardless if his signing was peculiar. After all, it’s been an ongoing, multi-year quest for the Bay Area side to find a replacement for left back Justin Morrow, who was part of the Supporters Shield winning side in 2012.
To the fullback, the high expectations for him to be a day-one sensation are generated by those on the outside looking in. As for the ‘strangeness’ slapped on his signing, he believes it’s the misunderstanding of Sweden’s second division and his former team’s quality, who sold touted youngster Viktor Gyökeres to Brighton Holve Albion U23s this past winter.
“I haven’t had those expectations, it’s other people,” Qwiberg said following the Quakes, 1-0, loss to Club Leon. “I understand if people think it’s a strange signing, but just look at the team that I played for last year: we had one guy who went to Premier League, all of the other guys went to first division teams, one other guy was bought for like 500,000 Euros to Norway. So I haven’t had those expectations that I’m going to be a starting player from day one. Not at all. I’m going to be a starting player the day I’m ready for it.
“I’m patient about the situation. I have a locker room, I have a front office and I have coaches that are helping me everyday. I think people around me or outside of the club maybe have had higher expectations than anyone else.
“It’s also interesting coming from second division in Sweden people might think it’s a strange signing. But, I don’t think the people that think it’s a strange signing have so good knowledge about the second division. That’s why people think it’s strange. I’m not stressed at all.”
Two months into his American journey, Qwiberg feels everything is going according to plan. The lack of minutes certainly don’t reflect it, but he respects Stahre’s decisions and acknowledges that his time as a starter will eventually come. A fitting scenario and attitude for a player that’s had to overcome adversity through his development.
“Like I said, I’m really patient about this and I think everything is going as I thought,” he said. “My expectations were always that I want to play, of course. The day I’m not disappointed of not playing that’s the day I’m quitting.”
