The Chicago Fire are quietly building a roster that could be more competitive in 2016 than their abysmal season last year as they added Brazilian U-20 defender Rodrigo Ramos on loan. Ramos joins the Fire from Coritiba who compete in the top flight of Brazilian soccer known as the Serie A.
Ramos needs first team minutes
It has taken Ramos a bit longer than normal young soccer players from that country to get a substantial amount of playing time with his club back in Brazil considering that he is an under-20 caliber guy. For Coritiba, he made his first senior appearance towards the latter part of June when they defeated Cruzeiro by a score of 1-0.
On the international stage, Ramos competed with his fellow countrymen in the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. The youngster, however, was second choice in the squad and only made two appearances with both of them coming off the bench.
Velijko Paunovic even noted that he has seen his new signing play a couple of times already and said “he is a young player with lots of potential and I hope he will seize this opportunity with the Fire.” That opportunity in which he speaks is getting the chance to play first team football on a regular basis.
Outside defender prospect
Ramos is an outside back that plays on the right side of the pitch and covers a lot of ground throughout the 90 minutes. Like most Brazilian fullbacks, he is definitely not afraid to join the attack in the final third of the pitch and will use his speed to track back to defend and hold the shape.
If the young Brazilian does play consistently throughout the MLS season, then when he returns to his native land, there should not be any doubt that he will be able to play first-team minutes in 2017.