THE GREATEST MISS
Balboa on Colorado, World Cup
Perhaps the most memorable moment of Marcelo Balboa’s soccer career came on a miss.
It was the 1994 World Cup, and the Americans were leading heavily favored Columbia when Balboa attempted a bicycle kick — an amazing feat of athleticism that saw the ball sail just wide of the near post.
“If that kick would have gone in, it would have changed our life,” said Nick Balboa, the oldest of Marcelo’s two sons.
“I think I just shocked the (crud) out of people,” Marcelo laughed. “An American doing a bicycle kick at a World Cup, let alone a defender doing a bicycle and it coming that close. … It’s kind of funny. I will go to my grave and it’ll say, ‘Yes, I missed the bicycle.' ”
Nick is an intern with the Rapids communications department and a student at the University of Colorado. He proudly talks about his trip as an infant to see his dad at the 1998 World Cup. He was too young to remember anything from his father’s playing career but he often goes through the archived footage.
“After I understood the significance of it I would watch the highlight back more and more,” Nick said. “Part of me wishes that he got the bicycle kick just because of the curiosity of what life would have been like if he got it. Still, it’s one of the coolest misses ever.”
Marcelo was the first player to make 100 appearances for the USMNT, anchoring the American defense for the 1990, ’94 and ’98 World Cups. Between his first two Cups, he came to Colorado to play for the Foxes and liked the state so much that when Major League Soccer was formed he wanted to make Denver home.
“When we joined in 1996, we were told there was money for three years and if things went well we could see where it was going to go,” Marcelo remembers. “I don’t think people know how close MLS was to folding with three owners and a commissioner sitting at a table trying to figure out. Philip Anschutz deserves a big a thank you for bringing soccer to Colorado and supporting it.”
Balboa was instrumental in the formation of MLS and one of its first stars when play began, but his contributions to the league and Colorado soccer post-career might be even more significant.
His broadcasting career started almost immediately after he stopped playing in 2002. He’s called everything from MLS to the Olympics to World Cups for nearly every network in both English and Spanish. Locally, Balboa is the soccer commentator for Altitude TV, but he’s still better known in Colorado for his work on the field. He coached local youth clubs, Monarch High School for four years, and now he leads the Rapids Developmental Academy’s 14-year-old team.
“When you talk about iconic players in our club history,
Marcelo is someone you immediately think of. He was part of a pioneering group of players that helped not just set the foundation of this club, but of this league and the sport of soccer in the U.S.,” Rapids Vice President Padraig Smith said. “He continues to be an ambassador for the Rapids and this league through his role as a broadcast analyst for Altitude TV, Univision and as a head coach in our development academy.”
One thing is certain for the Balboa family: Their life flows with the four-year cycle of World Cups.
“I never thought I would get to play in three World Cups,” Marcelo said. “And now I broadcast the Olympics, World Cups and Champions League final. I love watching the game. But to be able to bring a World Cup here would be fantastic.”
Balboa is referencing the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in North America for the first time since 1994. Denver is one of the 23 candidate cities looking to make the final cut down to 16, which is scheduled to happen this June.
The state’s soccer cachet has grown in recent years thanks to Team USA members Mallory Pugh and Lindsey Horan. Balboa hopes a male Coloradan makes a World Cup roster, too.
“To have kids from Colorado representing Colorado or the Colorado Rapids and making a national team, I think it’d be awesome to see,” Marcelo said. “Every little kid that grows up playing soccer wants to play in a World Cup. To have a kid live that dream from Colorado, to be able to step onto the field in a World Cup, that’s the biggest sporting event in the world. Nothing competes with what the World Cup has to bring, because it is the world you’re playing in front of.”
Balboa downplays his contributions to the game in Colorado. But it is hard to deny, given the possibility one of his pupils could be on the field the next time the World Cup is played on U.S. soil — or that he helped lay the foundation for its arrival in Denver.
His son, on the other hand, is already dreaming about watching a pregame montage that includes his father’s missed bicycle kick on the Empower Field jumbotron.
“It’d mean the entire world to him,” Nick said. “Colorado is home. The possibility is beyond exciting for not only the state and the sport, but for my dad. The progression to get to the point of possibly hosting a World Cup game is a huge accomplishment.”