Q&A With Club León Midfielder Miguel Ibarra

Photo credit: Minnesota United

Miguel Ibarra rose through the NASL ranks to become the league’s Golden Ball (MVP) winner in 2014. That same year, he was called into the United States men’s national team by Jurgen Klinsmann. In June 2015, Ibarra transferred from Minnesota United to Liga MX’s Club León. He spoke to Matthew Levine of NASL.com about proving himself in Mexico, keeping an eye on the NASL from afar, and more.

Levine: How has your time in Mexico made you a better player?

Ibarra: There were a lot of obstacles at first. I had to come in and show the coaches I could play. The coach would text me that he was impressed with the preseason I was having. Now, we have a new coach and I have to prove myself again.

There’s been some obstacles I’ve had to go through, but I just keep working hard and try to get better and prove myself every day.

Levine: You’ve gone through those periods in the past where you’ve had to prove yourself, has that made you hungrier while playing in Mexico?

Ibarra: Since my soccer career started it’s been about proving to people that I could play. Coming out of college, getting drafted and let go by Portland [Timbers], going to Minnesota, and proving to Manny [Lagos] I could play. He had the confidence to put me in and then a surprising call to the national team and I had to go and prove I could be there. Klinsmann told me I’m a national team player now, you proved yourself.

Now, I have to do that here. It makes me better, makes me hungrier, makes me want to get better every day, and makes me succeed.

Levine: I don’t know how much you’ve gotten to follow the NASL since, but have you seen some of the signings that came in this offseason and have you been surprised by some of the players that have joined compared to those when you were playing?

Ibarra: You can tell right away that the NASL is getting a lot more players now. The NASL is signing big players and more young guys are going there now. I think the league is growing and growing and getting better.

Levine: Jumping off that, you’ve set an example of a player that does the work and gets rewarded for it. Do you expect to see more success stories like yourself building through the NASL and possibly reaching the national team?

Ibarra: There’s great players in the NASL that I can see making big moves. There are a lot of hungry players in the NASL and the hungrier the player, the player is going to succeed. The NASL is signing a lot of good players that is making more players go there and a lot of young players are saying the NASL is a good league, which it is.

I’m always going to be up-to-date on the NASL because that’s where my professional career started.

Levine: Do you have any predictions for this season?

Ibarra: Not really. Minnesota is still my team, so seeing the players they’ve brought in I think they are going to have a really good team. It’s a big year for Minnesota.