With the beginning of every new school year come fresh opportunities to build and grow in all areas of one’s life. This is certainly true for one of North Arlington High School’s most talented athletes, Danny Cordeiro. In the second game of the season, Danny scored a hat trick and three goals in under twenty minutes. He later finished the game with one more goal. When asked about his aspirations for this year’s soccer season, Danny stated, “…to score more than 20 goals, get 1st Team All-League, and get farther than the second round of States or possibly even win State Sectionals.”

In addition to participating in the fall soccer season, Danny plays for a spring soccer club and runs track. Soccer is Danny’s favorite sport and he hopes to play for a Division 1 soccer team at perhaps Rutgers, NJIT, or Penn State. Danny works as diligently in the classroom as on the soccer field. His classes this year include Pre-Calculus Honors, Spanish III Honors, and Physics II Honors. In the future, Danny is thinking about pursuing a career in engineering because he excels in science and math in school.

As the interview began to come to a close, we spoke of professional soccer teams and players. “I admire many soccer players but some of my favorites are Ronaldo, Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta,” stated Danny.  He later added that if he could play for any soccer club it would be Barcelona because “They have a loyal fan base, a great youth system and starting eleven, and finally, ‘the best player in the world’, Lionel Messi.” After recalling all of his athletic accomplishments so far this year, Danny modestly looked away and said he still has to improve on “his heading and speed.” Enough never seems to be enough for this promising young athlete, and it is that hunger that will drive him to reach all of the goals he has set for himself. The Vikings will certainly be rooting him on every step of the way.