It was all falling into place for Kevin Oliveira. The Swope Park Rangers midfielder had recently been named USL Player of the Week after scoring once and assisting on all three other goals in a 4-0 mauling of Rio Grande Valley FC – a result that ended up becoming the Rangers’ biggest win of the season.
Then, an innocuous fall in training ripped it all away. Oliveira was diagnosed with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left knee heading into a road game in Seattle on June 26. He was told he would miss the rest of the season.
“It hurts, because I was in a good moment and the team was starting to play really well in June,” Oliveira said. “After that, it hurts for me to just sit there watching the games, seeing my teammates play.”
The team was starting to play well. Despite sitting in 13th place in mid-June, the Rangers’ squad was beginning to find its feet and tore through the second half of the season, picking up more points than any other Western Conference side and finishing in fourth place.
That form continued through the USL Cup Playoffs as SPR won the Western Conference in their inaugural season.
“Almost every day I was with my team and they did a good job,” Oliveira said. “I’m so proud because my team did beautiful work while I was out. We were the Conference champions and we went to the USL Cup Final and I’m so proud of my team this year.”
The 20-year-old kept his head down during the team’s incredible run, working with the club’s medical staff to strengthen his knee, regain mobility and gradually rebuild fitness.
“Right now I’m four months in (to my recovery), I just started to work on the field and I feel good,” Oliveira said. “I hope I’ll be ready for preseason. I work every day for that. The goal is to be ready for the first game.”
Oliveira, who arrived from Portuguese powerhouse Benfica, made such an impression in his 13 appearances that he was named second on the USL’s 20-Under-20 list in August – more than a month after his injury.
The Sao Vicente, Cape Verde native admits to being inspired by his teammates’ success while on the sidelines, and he’s looking forward to being an even bigger part of it in 2017.
“Next year we’re going to be putting in the same work, we won’t change anything. We’ll work every day and work as a family and try to do as well as we did this year.”
