Each hails from Great Britain, playing a similar style of soccer. They?re best friends and they?ve played on teams together since they were teenagers. But Baltimore Blast midfielders Jonathan Steele and Matt Watson are two different people.
“I?m the trouble; he?s the quiet one,” Steele said.
Both have scored six goals this season, but with three assists to Watson?s two, Steele leads the points race by one, with 15 in 16 games. Steele said that he?s the better passer, but concedes that Watson has better speed.
They know each other very well, dating back to their playing days with the Wolverhampton Wanderers in England. Steele joined the team as a 16-year-old from Ireland, while Watson grew up in Redditch, England.
The biggest adjustment for both after coming to the U.S., aside from driving on the other side of the road and picking up the local dialect, has be learning the indoor game.
“The standard is high,” Watson said of the Major Indoor Soccer League. “When I first came in, I thought it was going to be a lot easier than this. But the standard is high. It?s not like a walk in the park or anything.”
The biggest change has been the pace of play and learning to stick with an offensive player on the defensive end of the floor.
“You learn every day,” Steele said. “The more you play, the more experience you get.”
Aside from helping the Blast to a 9-9 start, Watson and Steele live together in White Marsh.
“It?s been a good experience for me,” said Watson, who typically travels home once a year. “I like it here a lot.”
Watson, 22, played college soccer at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, while Steele has been in the U.S. since 2004, when he played for Kansas City, a now-defunct MISL franchise. Steele, who celebrates his 21st birthday today, is the youngest player on the Blast roster, while Watson has the least indoor experience.
While both are adapting to the MISL, Steele must also adapt to his most important role ? being the father of his 6-month-old son. Steele admits having a child has also calmed him down. But tonight, it won?t keep him from dragging Watson out to a local establishment to celebrate Steele?s 21st birthday.
“It?s a life-changing experience,” Steele said. “To know that this kid realizes who you are now ? it?s fun, man.”
WIRTZ TO JOIN BLAST HALL OF FAME
The Baltimore Blast announced Tuesday that former All-Star Heinz Wirtz will be inducted into the team’s hall of fame. He will become the ninth inductee during a halftime ceremony at the Blast’s game against Milwaukee at 1st Mariner Arena Feb. 17. Wirtz, who won the Major Indoor Soccer League?s MVP in 1982, was a member of the club’s 1983-84 championship team. He played for the Blast from 1981 to ?86, representing Baltimore in the 1983 All-Star game. He will join former Blast coach Kenny Cooper, original MISL commissioner Earl Foreman and former players Stan Stamenkovic, Mike Stankovic, Tim Wittman, Bruce Savage, Dave MacWilliams and Joey Fink in the Blast Hall of Fame.
