In father's footsteps

Revolution's Igwe goes forth as back

FOXBOROUGH - Last year, Amaechi Igwe seldom behaved like a first-round draft choice. Igwe was usually the last player to leave Revolution practice, which meant he collected stray soccer balls, placed them in a nylon net bag, and dragged it back to the Gillette Stadium locker room.

Igwe did not participate in an MLS game, and seemed destined to be a reserve again this season, until Chris Albright sustained an ankle bruise at Chicago April 3. Igwe made his first professional appearance at left back in the Revolution's 3-1 win at Kansas City last Wednesday and will be a candidate to start at New York Saturday. Albright was slated to return against Colorado (a 1-0 loss) last Saturday, but realized he was not near full speed and told Igwe after pregame warmups.

"Actually, the day before the game, the coaches told me to be ready," Igwe said. "Last year prepared me for this. I had just been waiting for a chance to play and I had a good preseason and felt I was ready for the season."

Igwe, 19, played one season at Santa Clara University and was the No. 12 pick in the MLS draft last year, the Revolution's second of the first round. He served an apprenticeship, performing only in reserve matches as the Revolution advanced to the MLS Cup for the third successive season. The team's confidence in Igwe was expressed by the fact Avery John and James Riley were left unprotected for the expansion draft.

"Obviously, everybody wants to play," Igwe said. "So it was frustrating at times. But part of being on a team is everyone knowing their role and where everyone is expected to be. I was the youngest player on the team, so I felt I had to do more to earn a spot and to earn respect. I worked hard in practice and I was the last one in afterward.

"I'm still developing and working hard. I've always been a hard worker, that's how I got here. That's pretty much my best trait."

Actually, Igwe has probably spent a greater percentage of his life on soccer fields than most other players. Igwe's father, Tony, conducts soccer camps in the San Francisco area and Igwe and his brother, Kelechi, and sister, Chioma, grew up playing the game.

"Basically, it was like having a coach living with you," Igwe said. "Growing up, we would have summer camps, and all the kids would come and go, but I would stay out there from 9 to 5 every day. That's all I did, every chance I got. Then, when school started, my father would take me and my sister out to the park and we would play. That helped me."

Igwe also was on a club team coached by former San Jose Earthquakes defender Tim Martin and, later, by current Colorado Rapids midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy. But Igwe's father had the greatest influence on him.

Tony Igwe performed for Nigeria's national team, playing in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, before leading the University of San Francisco to three NCAA championships, then settling in the East Bay. Nigeria began emerging as a soccer force in the '60s, despite upheavals such as the Biafran War, which was suspended for three days while the national team played against Pele's FC Santos. Tony Igwe participated in that game and also in another historic Nigerian encounter, the nation's first victory in Ghana.

"My father told me that when they came back to Lagos," Igwe said, "the airport was packed with people cheering. That really started Nigeria's program."

Tony Igwe, from Jos, north of Lagos, started his career as a forward, then moved to outside midfield, and made his name as a right back. Amaechi Igwe's career has followed a similar pattern; so everything went quite smoothly when he started a Revolution counterattack in the early going against the Wizards, dribbling past two opponents, and barely missing on a 25-yard blast.

"I was switched to outside back with the [US] U-17s and I had to learn the position quick," Igwe said. "But my father and coach [John] Hackworth helped when things were confusing for me. My father is my biggest critic. He always lets me know what I did wrong in games. He remembers the small things, like I should have forced a guy outside, or what my positioning should have been.

"We are playing three in the back, so it's tough for me to get forward. But when there is the opportunity, I like to do it. I feel comfortable dribbling at players. My family always wants to see me going forward. I miss doing it and I feel like if I didn't score a goal or at least take some shots, I didn't have a good game."

When Igwe joined Gambians Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi in the lineup the last two games, it was the first time an MLS team had three 19-year-old starters since Oct. 1, 2005, when New York used Michael Bradley, Eddie Gaven, and Tim Ward in a 4-1 loss to D.C. United. Like Bradley, now with Heerenveen in the Netherlands, the Revolution teenagers could be destined for Europe, and Igwe could have a work visa advantage because his mother, Lisa, is Italian.

"A lot of young players aspire to play in Europe," Igwe said. "But my focus is on being here."

Not a shoo-in to start

Wells Thompson, the Revolution's other first-round draft choice last year, has returned to full-speed training after recovering from a left heel bruise. An orthotics specialist in Winston-Salem, N.C., appears to have solved the problem by modifying Thompson's shoes, opening the back to allow his Achilles' tendon more room.

"It might have been the shoes, it might have been the [artificial] turf," Thompson said. "It's the first time I've ever had it."

Thompson performed in the Revolution's final preseason game, a 0-0 tie with CD Marathon in New Orleans, but his foot was placed in a protective boot after he returned. Thompson had just informed his family that he would be playing in the Revolution's opening game against Houston and would have to miss the wedding of his brother, John Mark. The injury, though, allowed Thompson to attend the March 29 wedding and also to reunite with a family friend, who analyzed the shoe problem.

Thompson, 24, won a starting position last season, but could remain on the bench behind Nyassi, who has scored twice for the Revolution.

"I lined up against Sainey in practice all last year and I know what he's like, he has that quickness," Thompson said. "But I'm not backing down from the competition. I bring that attitude to every practice and every game."

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.