Junior Burgos Gives The Silverbacks Reasons To Believe

By now fans of the Atlanta Silverbacks and fans of superlative free kicks are well acquainted with Efraín Antonio Burgos, Jr. and his crackerjack, swerving, dipping strikes.

August was a very good month for the attacking midfielder who was born in El Salvador (where his father, Efraín, Sr., was an accomplished professional player) and moved to California in his early teens. The younger Burgos scored an exquisite goal that garnered Play of the Week honors and ended the month with a free-kick goal that garnered three points for the Silverbacks (and was also nominated for the Play of the Week), one of the pleasant surprise teams of the NASL’s Fall Season.

“He might be the best free-kick specialist I’ve seen,” Eric Wynalda, the former U.S. national team star, Atlanta executive, and current Fox Sports commentator, said in an email message.

Those two magical free kicks were not conjured out of thin air.

“For me, it really starts in training,” Burgos told NASL.com. “I like to stay after training two or three times a week and hang pinnies on the corner of the goal and try to knock them down. Once I do I can go inside. It’s all preparation. If you train on free kicks during the week the confidence comes on game day. You usually only get one or two opportunities to score so the stakes are a lot higher.”

The first free-kick goal by Burgos came in a wild 3-3 draw against visiting San Antonio on August 5. Last week, his flash of brilliance with fewer than 10 minutes left in the match gave the Silverbacks a 1-0 victory at home against FC Edmonton.

“You look at the ‘keeper and where he stands, where the wall is and then choose a post and try to get it over the wall,” Burgos said. “Once it’s over the wall it’s harder for the ‘keeper to get to. If I’m looking at goal, I like to go from the left side because it curves away from the goalie. Last week I went to the short side [about 25 yards out on the right flank]. I kind of knew that if I could get it around the wall it would go in. Trying for the far corner would have meant turning my hips. Much harder.”

The win moved the Silverbacks (5W-3D-3L, 18 points) into third place in the Fall Season Standings and keeps the club in the thick of the race to The Championship, the league’s four-team postseason tournament. Atlanta finished in last place among the league’s 11 teams in the Spring Season but still has two routes a possible postseason berth: Win the Fall Season title or finish at or near the top of the table in the Combined Standings. After the tough end to the Spring Season, the Silverbacks made a number of player moves, which included re-signing Burgos, enlisting defender Kosuke Kimura, and twin brothers Pedro and Paulo Mendes.

Burgos spent last season with the Silverbacks, making 17 appearances, though he said a hip injury bothered him all season, leading to surgery last December 5.

“I had a really tough time throughout the season,” he said. “An opportunity came to go to Colombia, but I was not fully recovered yet. It had an effect on my body and my confidence. I was really scared to re-injure the hip. I thought it was better to return to the U.S. – it was a no-brainer. I needed games to get my confidence back. I didn’t want to play the first six months of the year because I knew I wasn’t ready to play at a high level.” 

The infusion of new players has given the Silverbacks a new lease on life and the prospect of playing well into November. There is still a long way to go before landing in The Championship, but Burgos is bullish on the Silverbacks’ chances.

“I think now we are a very confident team,” Burgos said ahead of this Friday night’s match at Carolina, which has lost four straight games and allowed the opposition three goals in each of those losses. The Silverbacks, who are unbeaten at home during the Fall Season, have a 2-1-3 record on the road. 

While in Carolina, Burgos is likely to keep tabs on the progress of El Salvador’s regional World Cup qualifying match at Curaçao. He has played eight times for the national team and said that he hopes to be called in to the squad for the return match on Monday as the Salvadorans attempt to advance to the first group stage.

“It’s a new staff and unfortunately, the list was made up before they took over,” Burgos said. “They told me that as soon as this game is over on Friday I will be able to go back to the national team. I hope to go for the second leg, if that doesn’t happen, then hopefully for the next round against Mexico, Honduras, and the winner of the series between Canada and Belize. Spiritually, it means a lot to me to play for the national team.”

While he awaits the phone call from El Salvador’s coaching staff, Burgos continues to practice his free kicks and the aprè-goal two-step dance that he says is in homage to the Bachata.

“I just have this thing, we all work so hard to score a goal you have to show the people that it’s time to celebrate,” Burgos said. “I usually do the dance.”