NEWARK, NJ—Franco Gamero, the leading scorer for the 2011 NJIT men's soccer team, earned three caps for the full Men's National Team of Puerto Rico in late February and Greg Kaye, a freshman for the 2011 Highlanders, is on the Puerto Rican Under 19 squad for the Dallas Cup, slated for the first week in April.
 
Although Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, it competes as a separate country in international sports, including soccer. Gamero, from Kearny, NJ, and Kaye, from Morganville, NJ, qualify to represent the island through their mothers, who are Puerto Rican.
 
Gamero was called up to the full men's national team for a series of three international friendlies (games played outside of the international tournament structure) that saw Puerto Rico take on the national teams of El Salvador and Nicaragua (two games). The 21-year old architecture major appeared as a substitute in all three games, earning his first three caps (a soccer term for national team appearances).
 
Kaye, an 18-year old international business major, is set to play with the Puerto Rico Under 19 National Team when it takes part in the 33rd Dallas Cup, April 1-8.
 
The Dallas Cup features age group national teams, top youth teams from the United States and Canada, and the youth development teams of top clubs from Europe, South America, and Mexico. Past winners include teams from clubs such as Sao Paulo (Brazil), Tigres (Mexico), Real Madrid (Spain), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), and Liverpool (England). Alumni players include David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, and Michael Owen, all of whom went on to star for Manchester United and England as senior players, as well 10 active full internationals for Mexico, eight for Brazil, and 12 for the United States, including Landon Donovan.
 
Gamero came to NJIT in 2009 and played in 16 games (two starts) and finished fourth on the team in scoring with seven points on three goals and an assist. He was away from soccer in 2010 and returned in 2011.
 
Making a strong return to competitive soccer, Gamero netted a team-leading four goals for the 2011 Highlanders, including the game-winner in a 2-1 upset of Virginia Tech, which earlier had shut out North Carolina, the eventual 2011 National Champion. He also scored twice in a 3-2 win over VMI.
 
Kaye, who won a national club championship in 2008 with NJSA 04 coached by retired USA great Tab Ramos, played in 18 games (two starts) for NJIT as a freshman in 2011.


 
Gamero was invited to join the Puerto Rico Men's National Team by Eric Labrador, President of the Federacion Puertorriquena de Futbol. The official matches, played between February 20 and 28 serve as preparation from what Mr. Labrador termed the team's most important competition of the year, the Digicel Caribbean Cup, which are the Caribbean qualifiers for COCACAF Gold Cup.
 
The invitations for Gamero and Kaye were facilitated by Dariel Collazo, a leader in Puerto Rican soccer who is a longtime friend and former assistant coach for Cesar Markovic, who took over as NJIT's head coach in January 2011.
 
“I've known Dariel for a long time and he's held a variety of positions in soccer in Puerto Rico,” said Markovic. “Soccer is a growing sport there and I know they're always looking for guys who can represent Puerto Rico. I knew Greg's mother is Puerto Rican from when we recruited him and I found out Franco's mother is Puerto Rican when he first tried out for the team last spring after I became coach. I introduced them to Dariel and it went from there.”
 
As far as the two players facing competition at an international level, Markovic sees the opportunity as a plus for the players and for the program at NJIT. “They will gain experience at a high level and that can only make them better players,” said the coach. “In turn they can bring that experience back with them, which they will share with their teammates. And our program will benefit from the exposure. It's a win-win.”
 
For Gamero, a 2011 first-team all-Atlantic Soccer Conference pick for NJIT, the games for Puerto Rico were not his first taste of international soccer. Playing for youth teams associated with the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, he played in Europe against youth teams in Spain, Italy, and Serbia. In Italy, he faced the age group team of fabled Juventus and in Serbia, Partizan Belgrade.
 
However, playing soccer for a national soccer team on the soil of another national team was a new experience. Gamero, who played as a substitute in all three games for Puerto Rico, estimated that the crowd in El Salvador was nearly 10,000.
 
“It was a great experience,” he said. “But it took some getting used to having all those people cheering against you and some of them shouting curses at you in Spanish.”
 
He was pleased by his performance, but is not sure where he stands for the future with the Puerto Rican National Team.
 
“I was nervous at first and you have to make decisions faster than you do in college,” said the NJIT junior. “But I thought I adapted quickly and I felt good about how I played. The assistant coaches were encouraging me and giving me tips, but the head coach Jeaustin Campos (a former international player for Costa Rica) didn't say much. He left that to his assistants. So I'll wait and see what happens in the future.”
 
Gamero believes his year away from soccer in 2010-11, which he says helped him manage his time better so as to balance the time demands of his major, architecture, and being a Division I college athlete. It also made him realize what the sport means to him and fueled his desire to return. He is happy for the doors it has opened.
 
“Soccer has given me all these opportunities,” said Gamero. “It's been a great experience. Traveling to Central America with a chance to play for a National Team; it's the kind of stuff I only dreamed of.”