Say what you want about the levels of crazy in American soccer, but you have to acknowledge that United States men's national team fans have a sense of humor. Their most recent moment of hysteria centers around Jesus Ferreira, the young USMNT striker that has been blessed with a tongue-in-cheek nickname that has social media in hysterics.
'The Pirate of the Caribbean' is a nickname born as a response to Ferreira's goalscoring record. He has been scoring for fun with the USMNT, especially at the ongoing Gold Cup, but not everyone is impressed.
Ferreira's goals, by and large, have come against CONCACAF's smaller teams, hence the nickname. When given the chance to face some of the weaker teams in the region, Ferreira has always made sure to pour it on, having now scored 14 goals in just 21 USMNT appearances. That puts him just three goals away from cracking the USMNT's top 10 goalscorers, and he's only 22.
That accomplishment, though, is viewed through two lenses. The pessimist points to the fact that those goals are coming against overmatched opponents in largely one-sided games. The optimist, meanwhile, sees goals, regardless of where they're coming from or who against, and, for a USMNT program that lacked goals for so long, how could that be a bad thing?
As the summer goes on, though, several opinions will begin to show themselves, and they're the most important ones. No, we're not talking about USMNT's rabid Twitter fanbase; we're talking about those in charge at European clubs, many of whom will be taking a close look at Ferreira after this summer's goal explosion.
Some already have been looking and, at some point, Ferreira will almost certainly make his big move. He's certainly earned the chance to go from pillaging the North American region to one of Europe's top leagues.
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