PHOENIX, Arizona – Ever since he was five years old, Joaquin Rivas has called Las Vegas, Nevada home. Born in El Salvador, Rivas grew up in the United States and even played college soccer in his hometown at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Now at age 29 and representing El Salvador at the international level, Rivas is just two wins away from achieving the dream of a lifetime: Playing a Concacaf Gold Cup Final in his beloved hometown.
“Of course, I have thought about it. One of my dreams was already completed, which was playing against Mexico. That was definitely on the list, but we have two objectives, which is to reach the Final and win this tournament, and then make it to Qatar for the World Cup. For myself, making it to the Final in Las Vegas where my family and my friends are, it would be an unreal dream of mine. It would be home. It would mean the world to me,” said Rivas in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
Rivas and El Salvador have already reached new heights in the 2021 Gold Cup, making history as the first El Salvador team to register two wins in the group stage when they defeated Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago, respectively, including Rivas’ first ever Gold Cup goal in the match against the Chapines.
“It means a lot to everyone and we want to continue making history. We have the group to do it, we have the staff as well. I think in this tournament we are proving what we are capable of and more. We’re excited about what we’re doing and we can do a lot more. This Saturday we’re very focused and confident that we can make history and have El Salvador reach the semifinals for the first time in the Gold Cup. We’re ready for the challenge,” said Rivas.
While El Salvador’s group stage closed with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Mexico, La Selecta went toe-to-toe with the reigning champions and had ample opportunity to equalize. El Salvador’s football on the night was noteworthy, as was the El Salvador fan base which packed the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The moment that the El Salvador national anthem was played and sung out loud by everyone in blue and white is a moment Rivas will never forget.
“The support is like another player on the field and makes us work harder. When I first heard the Mexico anthem, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty loud.’ But when ours came on, I still get chills thinking about how loud and how amazing that was. Throughout the whole game, the noise did not stop. I could barely hear myself. It’s a moment that I will never forget and it’s one of the best experiences I’ve had. I’m sure it was the same for many other guys as well. I really don’t have words to describe it,” said Rivas.
Another mark of this Gold Cup for El Salvador has been the tactical shift under new Head Coach Hugo Perez, who has instilled an attack-minded mentality within his squad.
“Hugo has mentioned since day one that it doesn’t matter who we face, we are going to come out and attack. He doesn’t want the old way of us defending and then seeing how the game is going to go. That’s what he told us at halftime [of the Mexico game]. We have to go out and attack, that we’re capable of more and we have to go out and show it. I think Hugo is trying to change the mentality of how we move forward and we’re all enjoying our football right now. This tournament will help us out with qualifiers, whether we move on to the next round or not. But mainly, I think we have proved something to ourselves,” said Rivas.
The next hurdle for El Salvador will be a Qatar team that poured in 10 goals during the group stage on their way to a first-place finish in Group D. Rivas and his El Salvador teammates have plenty of respect for the reigning Asian champions, but in this new era of Salvadoran football, Rivas knows they will be up for the challenge.
“Qatar are going to be a good opponent. We have confidence, but we respect them as well. We played them three weeks ago in a friendly in Croatia, so we kind of know what to expect. Many of our guys weren’t there, but I’m expecting a good match. They can attack, they are dangerous on the counter with speed and they scored a lot of goals, so we have to focus on our defensive shape. But we are going to go in there with the same mentality as well, which is to attack,” concluded Rivas.
