Midfielder Camargo set to play 100th game with Cavalry FC
In a perfect world, Sergio Camargo hitting the century mark in games played with Cavalry FC would come in front of the hometown fans.
And against Forge FC, of course. So one out of two ain't bad when the 29-year-old dynamic midfielder and original guy for Calgary's professional footie side leads Cavalry into its sixth season Saturday against its archrivals in Hamilton (2 p.m., Onesoccer, Onesoccer.ca).
“One hundred games ... just makes me feel old,” said Camargo, with a laugh, and fresh off signing a two-year extension with the club plus an option. “It's a great feeling that I'm getting to this milestone. And it's fitting that we face Forge. I would prefer it be at ATCO Field, in front of the fans.
“But I'll take it any which way.” That's because it wasn't always shaping up to be a done deal, despite the flair he brings to the field and his star power for the team and the Canadian Premier League.
Injuries kept Camargo from being a full-time member for Cavalry in 2020 and 2022 and, at times, during the two other campaigns before last season.
“I hope I am through the worst part of my career in terms of injuries,” said Camargo. “It wasn't a for-sure thing that I was ever going to get to 100 games with my history these last couple of years.
“But I had a good healthy season last year, and I'm just trying to stay on that wave and keep riding that. And I think I'm coming into a season feeling like everything is going right, so I'm just excited to keep going.”
So is Cavalry, which rewarded the Colombia native with a new deal announced early Friday, extending him after his six-goal, 28game campaign in 2023.
The half-dozen strikes tied his previous season high in the inaugural CPL year of 2019.
In total, Camargo has cashed in 21 goals — for the franchise lead — over 99 Cavalry appearances.
“Sergio's big,” said Cavalry general manager/head coach Tommy Wheeldon of his 5-foot-8 fireball. “When he's playing well, he makes the team tick.
“He probably sometimes gets underappreciated for what he does, so being one of the captains and being the leading point-getter and having a season like he had last year, he went kind of under the radar.
“He was always available for selection. He's put the injury things behind him and just concentrated on being a good player and a good teammate, and he's a terrific leader. So it's probably time for him to get the love he deserves again, because he's an exciting player.”
Camargo becomes the third member of Cavalry to reach 100 games, after superstar goalkeeper Marco Carducci and feisty midfielder José Escalante reached that mark last season.
Throughout that march, Camargo has become a more polished, mature player.
“I've learned from experience, for sure,” Camargo said. “When you get 99 games under your belt, it gives you things to compare with and to use as references, like if a game is not going one way, it's like, `OK, I've seen this problem before, so what's the solution that we saw in Game 43 or whatever?' So I'm trying to give all my information, all my knowledge, to my younger teammates, so that they can be even further ahead than I am when they get to a hundred games.”
Not bad for a guy who was searching out a footie home after an arguably forgettable year in his hometown Toronto FC system.
In 18 caps with Toronto FC II in 2017, he notched just one goal — a far cry from the dynamism he brings to the Cavs and the CPL these days.
“I grew up in Toronto, but I kind of didn't have a home, because my parents left Toronto when I left for school,” said Camargo, who spent three NCAA years playing for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and another in 2016 with the Syracuse Orange. “So when I got back to Toronto and signed as a homegrown, it was my first time living downtown and I was pretty much alone.
“Even when I got here to Calgary, I didn't really have a home. But I've built my home and my community with all the years I've been here.
“I've had an amazing life in Calgary because of what Cavalry has given me.”