Marcos Flores Is Ready To Live The Jacksonville Armada FC Dream

By Matthew Levine

“I am a dreamer and I like to dream big,” Marcos Flores told NASL.com.

The opportunity to join the North American Soccer League’s (NASL) Jacksonville Armada FC was too good of an opportunity for Flores to pass up. So much so, he left Australia where he was two or three months shy of becoming a citizen in the country.

“I breathed and then I thought the Armada was worth it,” he said.

There were several reasons the 29-year-old moved to America, and more specifically, Jacksonville.

It offered the chance to help build something and to create the club’s history and help shape what the club will look for years to come.

“What attracted me the most is the dream of the Armada and how it’s being developed from the start. From the general manager, to the idea of bringing football here, and the way we’re aiming to play,” he said.

“The principle thing was what the Armada is, what it’s going to become, so I really wanted to be a part of it.”

The Argentine connection has been a major bonus as well. His last season playing in his native country was 2008.

“I was missing this connection a lot,” Flores said.

However, it’s the mix of all the different cultures that excited him the most.

“I came for what the Armada is – it’s America, it’s a lot of nationalities. We don’t believe in passports, we believe in soccer,” he said.

Heading to America for the 2015 NASL season and the Armada FC inaugural season isn’t the first time Flores has taken a leap.

He wnet to play in the Australian A-League at a time, in 2010, when foreign-based players were typically at the end of their careers. Flores was 24 years old at the time.

In that first season, he made an instant impact. He went on to be voted the Foreign Player of the Year. While he headed to China after that campaign, he found his way back to Australia shortly after and noticed the differences with more Argentine or Spanish players plying their trade in the league.

His time in Australia proved to be a memorable experience. 

“My years in Australia were unbelievable. I respect that league, I respect what they gave to me and I’m not going to forget it,” Flores said.

“Australia is always going to be in my heart.”

Now in Jacksonville, Flores is enjoying shaking off the shackles of his usual role as the number 10 or playmaker in the team. With the Armada FC, he could lineup anywhere on the pitch.

“I used to always play as a number 10, as a playmaker, but here what they are offering me is to manage different positions, and it excites me,” he said.

With the coaching staff constantly mixing up the team, Flores added, “I don’t even know which position I will play.”

However, that is part of the excitement for himself and for the Armada FC supporters.

“You don’t just need to know your position but to know five different positions. It’s beautiful because the way we change things is the way that the fans will get excited for the weekend, to come to the stadium, and figure out who is going to play and how we’re going to play,” he said.

And the dreams that brought Flores to the States and the Armada FC? They are already turning into a reality.

“I’m living the dream,” he added.