Receiving a Sporting OchoCinco

Chad OchoCinco fancies himself as a footballer. Well, we all know that, but I'm talking the other kind of football. The non-gridiron pursuit also known as soccer or, to be entirely accurate if a tad cliche, "the beautiful game". 

Apparently the publicity savvy Cincinnati Bengals and former Oregon State wide receiver, he who famously changed his name from plain old Chad Johnson to big up his No. 85 jersey, hopes that he can slip into a Major League Soccer (MLS) team to keep himself busy through the NFL lock out.

He is currently involved in a four-day trial with Sporting Kansas City, formerly the Wizards, whose moniker changed ahead of the current season to coincide with a  move to a new stadium. I wish him luck but, at age 33, it will take a supreme effort to succeed in the game he last played at high school in 1995.

There is no doubt that the man will have the requisite fitness and athletic capability to match any of his prospective Kansas teammates and his passion is not in question. As he told Sporting's internal TV channel, "Although I love football, this (soccer) was always my first sport."

But it will take more than desire and a few days of ball work to up his skill level to professional levels. Unless OchoCinco is a natural and phenomenally gifted to boot, I can't see how he can make the Kansas roster. And how does the mind of an NFL wide receiver, honed to finding space and collecting the ball at pace with his hands, shift its focus to an entirely different discipline in which the ball is controlled by anything except the hands and arms? 

OchoCinco himself does not yet have the answer.

"It was as difficult as I imagined it to be, transitioning to another sport at this level," he admitted after Wednesday's session. "To be good at it takes more than just speed. It's not just about running around, there's a lot of skill to it."

I spent 30 minutes watching his trial live online at http://www.sporting85.com/tryout.php. It would be churlish and spiteful to judge the man on such a tiny snapshot, especially given his honest, almost boyish wish to make the grade. However, what I saw did not particularly excite - at times I cringed.

Part of me was smugly pleased. You see, I want every other American sports star or fan out there to realise what OchoCinco already knows, that soccer is a sumptuously nuanced game that requires a serious player to exhibit a hell of a lot of skill, ball intelligence, tactical awareness and selflessness alongside innate athleticism and developed fitness. For that reason, the darkly cynical side of my character had a smirk of glee at every missed kick or skied shot.

But I also believe wholeheartedly that OchoCinco really does have a love for the game. He warms up before NFL matches by keeping up a soccer ball; he numbers Thierry Henry, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo among his friends; he visited Real Madrid in January and met the "special one" himself, Jose Mourinho.

If OchoCinco does make the cross-over and successfully transitions from NFL All-Pro to MLS star, think of the publicity the league will garner in a vastly apathetic nation currently wrapped up in March Madness. People are already taking note of the fact that he is merely on trial. With the season only a week old and Sporting having won its opener in a 3-2 thirller against Chivas USA, the timing couldn't have been better.

The man is taking it seriously and, judging from his comments, he is humbled and honoured that Kansas has invited him to fulfill a long-held ambition.

"Kansas City offered to bring me out and treat me like a normal person (not a football star). There are a lot of other things I could be doing in my off-time but the opportunity to be here is just awesome," he said.

"Cristiano and Kaka said if I make it they'll come out and see me in a game."

OchoCinco is following a childhood dream. As someone who often dreamt of such a chance, I for one am rooting for the guy. Maybe there are better players out there who will never be offered the opportunity OchoCinco's privileged position has handed him but so what? As I've already noted, he has a mountain to climb just to get through the trial and if he does, he will have done so deservedly. For the sake of MLS and soccer's profile in the US, I hope he makes the team, in fact I hope the dream ends with Kansas' new No. 85 held aloft after scoring a fairytale winning goal in the MLS Cup.

That would be one for Hollywood!