By Sean Farrell – Record Sports
Don’t let the nickname fool you.
The goals are pretty big for “Little Messi.”
Being just 5-foot-5 doesn’t hold Oscar Sanchez back.
Growing up in a poor neighborhood in Honduras only makes him even more focused on making the most of his opportunities now at Garfield.
After a 12-goal junior year, he will come back stronger. Quicker. Smarter.
He expects a lot more this season out of his soccer team and himself.
“I set the bar high,” Sanchez said. “I want to prove that I’m the best player around. I went from dirt poor to being a normal human being. I’m blessed with an opportunity not many people get.”
On the soccer field, Sanchez is anything but normal.
It isn’t just his No. 10 jersey that draws the comparisons to Argentine star Lionel Messi.
It’s the talent that stood out right away, after he moved from Honduras to Lodi at age 5.
To get a better challenge in fourth grade, Sanchez played against kids three years older.
That’s when he got used to being the shortest person on the field, always having to go through two or three much bigger players around him.
He averaged a hat trick per game that season.
And a nickname was born.
“It just kind of stuck around,” he said.
Sanchez is coming off a breakout season.
He took on a bigger role in the midfield last year with the team around him getting younger.
He became their top scorer and doubled his point total.
The focus for him this summer has been finishing, so he can bury more of his chances.
“He’s one of our leaders,” coach Chad Sajnoski said, before last season. “He’s stepped into that role. He can dribble around anybody and he’s fast. He is a very, very explosive player. He’s a talented young man and he works hard.”
For Sanchez, no game means more than the last one of his sophomore year.
His voice even raises a bit just talking about it.
“Let me tell you…”
And so the story begins.
Fear crept in with a few minutes left. Fans started getting louder at Kean University. Then the comeback happened in an instant. Two goals in 27 seconds by the Boilermakers.
Garfield’s first state title came in wild fashion in the Group 2 final in 2015.
It was everything Sanchez hoped for after falling short in the sectional final the year before.
“Every drill, [former coach Mark Pieklo] would scream at us to remember that feeling. Remember when you guys were all crying? Remember going home with empty hands? A year later, we’re picking that trophy up, my coach is retiring a winner and we have a crowd that we couldn’t have done it without them. They pushed us all year. How could it get any better?”
“Let me tell you that has to be one of the greatest moments of my life.”
The mighty Boilermakers fell back down to Earth last year, to around the .500 mark.
Even as Sanchez made all the right moves, everything else seemed to go wrong.
One goal games didn’t go their way. Injuries spoiled the season before it began. Inexperience hurt at times.
“It was humbling,” Sanchez said. “It totally made me a better captain and made me as a person, stronger. It made me as a player, a lot better.”
Sanchez goes into his final year feeling optimistic again.
Garfield has already gone from heartbreak to history once before. He could see it happening again.
No matter what the future holds, he is thankful for his life in Garfield.
On and off the field.
I’ve gotten a lot of love,” Sanchez said. “People that I don’t even know sometimes recognize me. You’re the guy from Garfield, right? That’s me. It’s amazing having all that love and support because it actually pushes you to reach new levels.”
