Jae C. Hong / Associated Press
El Salvador’s Roberto Molina, right, grabs the arm of Chile’s Clemente Montez while vying for the ball during the second half of an international friendly soccer match Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in Los Angeles. Chile won 1-0.
Saturday, March 19, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Roberto Molina raced onto the soccer pitch in Washington D.C. for the El Salvador national team and couldn’t help taking in the moment.
There were a capacity 20,000 fans in attendance last September for an international friendly match with Guatemala, many of whom were sporting El Salvador jerseys and waving the country’s blue and white flag. Everyone was loud to create an environment Molina grew up fantasizing about being part of.
“It’s a whole different experience playing for your country and having the whole country behind you,” said Molina, a Las Vegas Lights forward. “It was a blessing and something I didn’t expect to happen in my first year of being a professional.”
And the 21-year-old Molina will tell you he wouldn’t have been on the radar of the national team if it weren’t for his performance last season in Las Vegas. Molina and the Lights host Phoenix Rising FC at 7 p.m. today for their home opener at Cashman Field.
Molina, after one collegiate season at UC Irvine, was ready to embark on a professional career and signed on with Las Vegas of the United Soccer League, where he debuted last May. A few months later, he was called up to the national team and appeared in three games.
“The amount of playing time I got in Las Vegas and my development throughout the season was something that gave me confidence,” he said.
The Lights featured a roster of mostly younger players last season in their first campaign affiliated with LAFC of Major League Soccer, as some of the parent club’s top prospects got significant time with minor league Las Vegas. The Lights suffered through a 6-23 record, but Molina — whose contract is only with the Lights — was able to stand out.
Some games he was outmatched against older, more experienced competition — especially if those players were physically stronger. But other times he was confident with the ball and flashes of great play were obvious, including two goals and four assists in 30 appearances.
It’s what caught the eye of El Salvador’s camp.
“Playing for the Lights gave him a platform for the national team to look at said,” Lights coach Enrique Duran said. “It’s a great motivation for the rest of the players, in that there are more opportunities coming if they perform at this level.”
Molina, like many players on the national team, was born in El Salvador and migrated to the United States as a child.
He grew up playing in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, where he spent two years living away from his family in Arizona as a teenager chasing his soccer aspirations. The academy is affiliated with pro soccer leagues and intends to develop players worthy of populating rosters.
The drastic living change paled in comparison to when his family in the late 2000s came to the United States, where it took them years to get established and forced Molina to live with one set of relatives while others in his immediate family lived elsewhere.
The middle child of two sisters, Molina knows the importance his success has for the family, all of whom equally sacrificed for a better life.
In their eyes, Molina is already a success. In his eyes, it’s still very much a work in progress.
He knows continuing to perform well with the Lights can lead to a promotion to the top division, where the Colorado Rapids hold his rights. They picked him 45th overall in 2022 MLS SuperDraft.
But first, he’s got to continue learning on the job.
“Coming from college to the USL, there is more people with more experience,” he said. “I take every game as a learning experience, even from the opponent there is always something you can learn.”
Molina grew up cheering for the LA Galaxy and remembers being in the stadium when Landon Donovan scored the winning goal against the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup in 2011. That night he took in the madness of the celebration and pictured himself scoring a goal of equal importance. He shared that vision with his family.
“I was really humble when I was younger, but my parents would always tell me I would achieve it,” he said.
It’s a process that continues this season with the Lights.
“I’m excited to get back out to Vegas. It’s a great sports city and our fans are insane,” he said.
